Code Geass : Back to Zero
by ArnaudB
Summary: Possible sequel of the "Mask Symphonia" following "The Demon King Requiem", may be read without the two prequels which aren't fully published. Features the restart of the serie R1 in the continuation of the trilogy.
1. Prologue : An infinite time

May or may not be a one shoot, is the possible sequel to "The Mask Symphonia" which itself follow "The Demon King Requiem". Reviews are welcome, about first person I decided to use it there because it made emotions better, however for most conversations and actions scenes then third person will be used, assuming this is enough liked be become truly the sequel.

(if someone could tell me how to make whole text centered it would come in handy too)

* * *

**Code Geass - Back To Zero**

**Prologue : An infinite time**

_Two worlds have changed under my hand_

_The second fell under an overwhelming power_

_He found the keys of understanding, sending a planet to destruction in results_

_We, as humans, fought with all our might against that unstoppable tide of death_

_Alas our enemy was not human, far from our understanding_

_miracles can only happens when there is a chance for it to happens, even the slightest one _

_but there was none, no chance to survive there_

_save for us..._

_We stood alone over the mountain of corpses, all fallen people our power couldn't protect_

_He'll blame himself, cursing his failure as if he was the only one at fault, that's just his character_

_I glanced at the battlefield once again, the place is their and we're just forgotten_

_I turned to him, to the man who did so much for the world._

_On his knee, his costum in rags, dirt on him as on me, we don't look like angel of devastation anymore, more like people who failed in their goal, in his goal perhaps, since I am only following him._

_Yes, I am only a follower unable to be as great as him._

_The proof of it lay before me, he distachs his eyes from his late contrator, brushing her long purple hairs while whispering an excuse._

_Then he raise his eyes at me, and the proof is so bright that I feel blinded._

_His purple eyes are burning with determination, still willing to fight._

_He extend his hand to me, I already understand what he wants to try._

_I place my hand in his palm, a wave of apprehension running through my veins._

_This is impossible, this is totally foolish, this isn't something we should do._

_We'll pay an heavy price when we already paid so much, there is little chance to make it happens._

_And yet, his eyes radiate of grave confidence, a regret he adress to the fallen ones is the only thing synonymous of doubt. His hand hold tighter on mine and I widden my eyes, my heard beginning to race._

_Yes, it'll works, it has to work. But the price will be hundred times higher to pay, can we really do something like that ?_

_The question is present yet unspoken, we do not need words, not here, not now._

_He doesn't doubt if we can do it, he doesn't worry about the price, nothing like that._

_He's asking me to let me pay the price alone, that foolish man._

_You're way too considerate for your own good, but then you've always knew that._

_Above the corpse of who was a caring yet strong girl we made a new pact._

_The last one, for never will we reach an higher state._

_I briefly remember the church were I received that power but the image fade away quickly._

_Since how long wasn't I the one leading in this blue sea of power filled with purple thunder ?_

_There I see him, how much he changed since the first time we met here, when the roles were opposite._

_Did I looked that impassible to him ? Was he admiring me as I admire him now ?_

_his lips move as his naked arm extend to me once again in this world were we're naked in our psyche._

_He ennounces the contract._

_And I..._

_"I shall accept this contract for all times, past, present and future."_

_It's time to return, another miracle need to be made._

_The two immortals aren't enough to protect this world, so only one can change all._

_Let's bring back the man of miracle._

_Let's bring back Zero._

_

* * *

_

_XXX_

The world is teared apart, the time switch and change under the broken power of King, I feel my two eyes usually golden being burned in an endless gray. My hand hold tightly on my contractor's, all around us the whole existence that is the 'True Code' or collective consciousness ensnare us and follow us as we progress. Despite my acceptation to take part of the burden, he is trying to get most of it on him. We cannot refuse all those spirits and those fragments of powers for is it the price we've to pay.

We keep walking, closest word to what we're doing, through the essence of time. I see many scenes of myself as I pass by what I did, I can't help but feel a slight unease as I feel his eyes watch the scenes with a strong interest.

Too many scenes to even describe one... untill we arrive to our second parting.

Almost a century ago, when the death of Zero happened, when we had to part for decades. The pain we both feel that time both echoes in our heart, feeling horribly real.

The scene fade and more come, I see our first parting that I thought was definitive, he stares at the me praying at the church, while afar the mascarade he had planned happened. We keep going on silently, still followed by more and more spirits.

Hundred of scenes of our past, thousand of things we half forgot to keep on living, the war that was fought and the lives that were lost.

I felt his hold weaken, the action sending hundred of shiver all over my body. The scene at that instant was the one he considered as his first real mistake, the biggest one that leaded to tragedy. The moment when he ordered a naive princess to make a slaughter.

I feel no rage within him, nor despair, nothing... until his grip become once again firm, the face I can't see behind me back into a mask of impassible determination. I can sense his mind in accordance with his face.

We keep walking, and find the last place. My power is close to its limit, because it's here where or more accurately when we made a contact together, both with the cursed power called Geass.

I can't help but shrug as I approach the me in his arms, the scenes continue to go forward.

Time keep going forward, a little more. I find myself touching the me bounded inside a spherical machine I had forgotten all about.

And I am taken by an infinite wave of pain. The two myself melting together hurt beyond any comparison.

my whole mind and body ached under the forceful connection, all till I am one with the one I was once.

* * *

XXX

The horror of that pain was overwhelming, somewhere I realized that the difference of level between mine and my witch was the same for different reasons. Her was because she used the power, and mine was because of the change in my body.

Arms and legs were growing larger not without the bones enlargement causing tremendous pain. Without a doubt It'd be called worse than dying, the clothes of the teen were too small to fit the size that was registered years later, when he got the Code.

It was a storm of pain caused by a too fast evolution, each time a part of his body grew in one block, a surge of pure pain as liquid lava burned his senses which were instantly back fully sensible by the regenerative power of the Code.

It lasted five seconds, it felt like an eternity. He caught his breath, unfortunately restricted by his clothes too tight for his size. He stood up in the darkness, his head collided with the metallic ladder. He almost cursed more by frustration than in pain, he had a lot worse just seconds ago than this.

He looked around, they were in a truck which was familiar. The day he first acted against Britannia was one he remembered quite well. The man saw the capsule, instantly he searched for her presence. Losing no time he looked for the panel to open the capsule, his eyes long used to darkness had no trouble seeing the object of his research.

The capsule opened, unnatural light made him blink a few times. He extended his arms which received softly a large form. The two starred into each other eyes for an everlasting moment.

Little romantic though, they both looked at each other attire. If she was raising a tired eyebrow at his too small student clothes, he himself stared at her restraining suit smirking smugly.

"Do you really like that kind of thing that much bad girl ?" he teased her. She glared at him and opened her mouth to answer, yet no sound came out of her mouth. Her eyes fell a little and he quirked an eyebrow in worry while holding her frame closer to his chest.

_'tired'_

He nodded while finishing to loosen the parts that uncomfortably restrained her.

And then they heard steps behind them, coming from a dark tunnel. A lone masked soldier emerged running toward them.

"Stop your evil deeds ! Terrorist will bring noth..." He began, but then

"Suzaku..."

The voice was close to a whisper, an deep emotion carried with it and yet perfectly audible in the silence.

"Lelouch ? it's you ?"

"Yes, it's me Suzaku."

At that moment, the young Japanese didn't notice the tone of his childhood friend so surprised that he was to met him here. No, he didn't notice how the one he saw as being at the same age spoke like he just saw a ghost.

In the darkness he didn't noticed either how predatory-like was the smile that appeared on Lelouch face.

'Suzaku, this time you won't get in my way.' He glared briefly at the young Japanese with a mix of sadness and furor. 'This time, I'll crush your ideals !'

And then he smiled gently at his old friend. "Mind lending me a hand ?" he said with mentionning the green haired woman half asleep form in his arms.

More steps echoed in the tunnel, several more people appeared before the three young or not so much friends.

And once again Lelouch made a predatory smile, barely holding back his desire to destroy those arrogant fools coming to retrieve his witch.

And moral be damned, it felt good.


	2. Chapter One : My names

**Code Geass - Back To Zero**

**Chapter One : My names**

_Thy are the darkest prince of the chaos's family_

_Thy are a handsome brother loving his sister_

_Thy are a mask of void bringing hope_

_Thy are a fake immortal of endless power_

_And at the end of your path of hate,_

_Thy are the God of Madness._

___L.L. - 20X9_

___

* * *

_

Lelouch had to restrain his power, it was literary throwing in anticipation, drowning his mind in murderous intent carried through the adrenaline that raced in his body. He narrowed my eyes, in a attempt for himself to calm down. The power obeyed, not reluctant in the slightest and he knew why.

_'Once again I would have to thank the witch'._ The geass bearer eyed the restrained woman silently resting in my arms and I cursed myself. Seeing the hint of amusement that ran in her eyes, she had 'heard' that. He mumbled incomprehensible words knowing she would get his sorry head for it later, worse, he would feel sad if she didn't.

Such was the nature of their complex relation.

Lelouch quickly shook his head in order to clear my thoughts for he had a situation to deal with.

"What are you doing ! You aren't allowed to touch her !" the not-anymore immortal sighed _'How come over ninety-five percent officers I met got on my nerves at the first sentence ?'_

_'annoying.'_ came the reply, both answering and describing her own state in one word. He chuckled at it, attiring the gaze of Suzaku who looked at him confused. The warlock holding a witch titled his head to the side, his purple gaze daring into the pack of soldier before us.

"It's as you see Suzaku, that person" he mentioned C.C with his chin "has likely been used in some kind of experiment and got taken by ignorant terrorists."

"But they told us it was poison gas." the genius couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow, whether it was because of the contrast between his own calm voice and his shocked own one or because of his naivety he couldn't say. The officer also stared at the trio in disbelief.

"Your deductive skills are impressive, so impressive that it's suspicious." Lelouch sighed, felling utterly... bored.

Truly, despite his intelligence he wasn't the actor here... yet. He could take care of those guys but with Suzaku around it would become troublesome to explain what he would have done. The officer gaze switched from Lelouch to Suzaku and he observed with deep interest something on Suzaku uniform.

"Private, you've seen something you shouldn't, but I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself."

Lelouch's heart skipped a beat there, it was exactly how he wished it would happen. The gamble where Suzaku future would be decided was going to happen.

A gamble where his life was his own responsibility, because the rebel yet-to-be wouldn't move an eyebrow to help him there.

Suzaku advanced two step forward before Lelouch who oddly wondered if it was an unconscious reflex in order to protect him. And then the officer left him with two choices, either kill Lelouch or be killed with him.

"I'll never do that ! He's no terrorist !"

At that moment the purple eye of the boy twitched, his Geass flaring into life ready to act. It would be so simple to assure Suzaku survival by telling the officer not to kill him, but it might also delay his plan.

Beside, this was the gamble he wanted Suzaku to take.

'_gamble ?'_

He nodded, deciding now was not the time to explain my thoughts to the witch.

_**bang !**_

Lelouch blinked, a feeling of unease plaguing his heart as he saw Suzaku fall to the down, a bullet in his chest. Was he alive or not ?

Observing him sadly gave him no clue, he couldn't decide if he was alive or death at the moment and his attention was brought back to the officer who smirked.

"A student huh ? How unlucky of you to have skipped school today." The grin that appeared on the future Demon King's face made the officer smirk look like the innocent smile of a newborn baby.

The witch helped him to contain 'it', but when the geass user didn't want to suppress it then her efficiency was null, unless there was direct skin-to-skin contact.

But it wasn't the case, sheets of clothes separated their skins and a faint purple aura began to surround Lelouch, gaining in density as the soldier approached

_**BOUM !**_

And then the world exploded_**.  
**_

A bomb exploded somewhere behind him in the truck, shaking the frail foundation of the buildings and sending torrents of rocks and cement upon the two accomplices.

His powerful mind recalled the situation as familiar for one split millisecond before he wisely decided to run, the broken power could probably if not surely save us from the apocalypse but he didn't really wanted to use that dual-edged power to that such an extend.

* * *

Lelouch glanced at the hangar, dusty, rusty and ugly as it was. yet this was where he received Geass from C.C for the first time. he fought the urge to roll my eyes, at least the boy had chosen a proper place to pass his own onto the late purple haired girl.

On another note Lelouch wondered how his own self had ran while holding the witch in his arms. Between the Code, some physicals... activities, and his couple of years older body (not counting years while bearing the Code), it was no wonder that himself managed fairly well. Probably his old self thought he was tracked by some monstrosity... the emperor Charles or an army of fan-girls for example, couldn't imagine worse so far...

_'The God of Madness perhaps ?_ I eyed the witch, a five words sentence instead of only one word, proof of her remarkable abilities to recuperate though she did sounded tired. Now about the sense... he didn't think she would bring this again, well he gave her a bad time at that time in the future.

Lelouch glanced at the large entry fully opened, those soldiers were late.

_**Ratatatatata !**_

The genius grimaced, why had those bloody corrupted insects to announce their entry with dead bodies.

"You took your time." He said with a trace of annoyance while looking at the bloodied Japaneses, people that wouldn't be saved even this time.

The officer and his men entered, looking at the student with disbelief.

"You look very confident, boy." He said, insisting on the last word. Said boy didn't bother to lose time and flared his Geass to life, barely taking a few seconds to complete his plan.

* * *

He was trying to recall the next event with the corpses of soldiers at his feet when his cellphone rang. The caller id was named Shirley.

Lelouch starred at the phone, letting it continue ringing without a care as he was too taken by his thoughts.

Oh yes, he remembered Shirley, mixed feelings threatening to overwhelm him for a few seconds, he felt like drunk and probably staggered.

'_Lelouch' _

Two purple eyes feel into two gold orbs, glaring at him for a reason he knew all to well.

The ring stopped and the future rebel wondered, was it bad or good that he wasn't used to see people disappear as much as the witch ?

He glanced at the phone one last time, his finger nervously passing over the call button.

The loud entry of a Knightmare chased the idea away from his mind. For an instant the pilot observed the scene behind in his cockpit.

"What is going on here ? Why are the members of special division all death !" He asked me over the external speakers, 'she', he corrected himself as the voice was undoubtedly feminine.

_'A woman... A woman riding a knightmare, who was it again ?'_

A volley of bullet piercing the wall behind Lelouch interrupted his reflexion.

"Answer !" He sighed in disdain, she was too rash for her own good. Finally he spoke in a tone where she would perceive his faked worry, assuming she wasn't too dense.

"On why those soldiers are death it would be wiser to ask their officer." Lelouch could almost feel the the stare of the woman inside search for the missing officer. Of course she would never find him since he had sent him on an errant just a moment ago, an errant that would have some benefit later on.

"That aside I rescued this wo...girl from terrorists but she is too weak to speak, can you check her condition ?"

The pseudo-student waited a moment, the pilot was likely wondering of what would be the wisest action to take. His presence as a student would surely make her ask some questions but... she would worry about 'the girl' first, terrorists didn't kidnapped someone for no reason, even if the person was a beautiful girl.

Lelouch counted on her doing that deduction and was right. The woman steeped out of her cockpit, a gun in her hand while she kept her eyes on him but not her gun.

The warlock almost smiled in a manner that would have made her very worried, the woman was no other than Villetta, dear future member of the O.S.I. and also his future P.E. teacher.

She didn't aim her gun at him, after all I was still holding C.C with both hands and she couldn't have considered me as very dangerous unarmed and charged.

**_"Give me your knightmare and forget you saw us."_**

_'Too easy_' I couldn't help but thought, glancing at Villetta after she handed me her key I briefly wondered if I shouldn't dispose of her. She had caused me trouble last time around. If I recalled correctly she ended up having an affair with Ohgi, how would probably be forever beyond my comprehension.

I hesitated, then walked past her and entered the cockpit still holding C.C in my arms. I scanned the ground and quickly find what I searched, chess pieces and a transmitter.

Now, it was time to enter the fight again.

* * *

I analyzed the tactical map, how gross the graphic seemed compared to the future ones but at least it did the job. I quickly found what I searched, an enemy knightmare desperately trying to shake off its pursuers. Alas it wouldn't be much time till the rebel fall to britannian superior machines.

I turn on the speaker and sent my first order. "West, take the railroad on the west area !" I heard the voice of a very familiar woman and fought to keep myself steeled.

"Who are you ?"

"It matter not, trust me if you want to win !"

"Win ?" asked the pilot shocked. I could picture her disbelieving figure in her Glasgow. Nonetheless she complied and rushed to the west side.

"Hey, what do I do now ?"

I silently readied myself and the aim, if I failed here all the plans would be throw in jeopardy. Two Sutherlands after her, my slash harkens flew through the air, destroying the first one and forcing its pilot to eject. "Since you trusted me I'll bring you victory, jump on the train !"

"Got it."

The second Sutherland turned to me, sending a volley of bullets in my direction for measure, none hitting me.

"Bastard ! Which unit do you come from ?" That voice, I knew it too, it was very familiar. Who was that man ? Who was stupid enough to believe it was an ally who was firing at them ?

I didn't have the time to ponder as I had another proof that redhead are reckless people and that my future Devil's right hand didn't make the adage lie. She threw the Glasgow straight on the Sutherland, the pilot reacted by raising his rifle on it but the red knightmare passed and destroyed the junction of the Sutherland arm. Without losing time the red arm readied itself for another strike.

I saw the cockpit of the pilot eject as I stepped back my own Sutherland into the shadows. The Glasgow turned to where I was last but couldn't see me, while I still could.

"You saved us, but..." And she interrupted herself seeing I wasn't there anymore.

I took a breath knowing the battle was far from over and allowed myself to take a look at C.C condition. That infuriating woman was sleeping with her head resting on my chest, in the middle of a battlefield.

In the end I shrugged, she was tired from her extreme use of Geass. My only wish was that she would wake up when this would be close to be over...

I activated once again the speaker, ready to finish with all this.

"Call me Zero..."

* * *

Coordinating, luring, ambushing then backing off. The battle seemed to be a repetition of the same event where every encounter counted as a loss on britannia side.

Lelouch sighed in relief when Clovis broke his formation for a full attack toward... a lure.

"now Q-1."

Multiple floors lower and hundred of meters away, the red Glasgow activated a set of explosives set on pillar.

Then Kallen activated the switch.

_**BROUMMMMMM !**_

Above the army of Sutherland had not time to react when the ground was teared apart by the sudden destruction of its foundation.

Machines and men alike were crushed without the slightest chance to escape the earth rage. The gigantic knightmares were annihilated as their footing was destroyed, sending them fall multiple floor lower into natural graves.

A few Knightmares survived the fall, all broken, and then were crushed under never ending blocs of buildings and rocks breaking the all too frail members of the machines as easily as the human bones that followed.

Screams echoing madly on the radio as the 'superior race' was reminded that no human defied the strength of the nature, infantry soldiers soiled the ground with their blood miniature image of the metallic giants that had no more protection than them.

A pilot with skill above average tried to survive by jumping all the way to the roof of a tall building. The building already crumbling provided a little protection to the falling ground alas the soldier hadn't counted on one thing.

Ghetto buildings weren't made as good as in the town...

The roof crackled and the pilot found his Knightmare absorbed in the building by the pressure of gravity and wind, said building straight heading into a regiment of infantry men who could watch as hundred of tons of rock fell upon them.

Killing them instantly.

When all thing seemed to calm down for a second, one Knightmare grabbed one of his teammates whose footing was already meters lower. Pulling with all the power his machine could muster he managed to allow the other to pose his feet on grumbling ground, but ground noneless.

"Th..." The thanks never came out from the saved pilot as a large shadow overcame the two heavy machine. Both men had time, lot of time...

Enough to see their inescapable death as yet another building got closer from the earth, from them.

Two more "lost" signals appeared on the commander room radar, the last two.

In the room a silence of death reigned over the shocked and horrified people who had commanded all those humans to their death.

The screams had ended, the signals stopped becoming the ones they didn't want to see, but still absolute silence was present in the room. There was no more signals because there was no more to lose, there was no words because there was no-one alive to report after this prelude of apocalypse.

* * *

Clovis la Britannia could only stare for several moments, his face deformed by an inextinguishable fear. He failed in recovering the girl who was probably under tons of rubbles at the moment, but most of all, he had suffered an overwhelming defeat at the hand of a totally unknown foe suffering the worst losses that britannia had token in Japan.

"Sir..." spoke a soldier at one of the screen, his voice shaken by the horror he'd just witnessed. "The encirclement have been broken on the east, the citizens are escaping by hundred."

Usually they would have called them all rebels but in the circumstance no one noticed the slip-up. The prince of britannia already hearing the laughers of his enemies at his defeat forced himself to calm down, even a little.

"No knightmare in the area right ?" he sighed as officers nodded, without a doubt they would too be demoted after such a defeat and so little results.

"What about our other forces ?" risked one of them. The soldier turned back on the screen, looking at the reports. When he spoke his voice was grim.

"Two tanks survived in the east out of twelve, helicopters had been either destroyed by the buildings or taken down by the rebels, two squadron of infantry tried to engage but were flanked from all side by Knightmares.

"The two tanks are down." commented sinisterly another soldier.

Clovis placed hands hold together before him, a pale imitation of Schneizel gesture. He had little forces there and they had no chance to travel all the way from west to east with the ground being destroyed everywhere. Still, he needed to limit the damage as much as possible, if he accepted defeat now his political standing would be crushed beyond repair.

"Lyold." He intoned in a somber tone.

"Yes my lord ?" Asked the scientific instantly showing on screen, as if he was waiting which was probably the case. His smile still present as if britannia hadn't suffered a terrible loss.

"Can your toy turn the table around ?"

"Please my lord, call it the Lancelot." Replied Lyold as he whirled around the reveal a golden and white Knightmare standing on the background.

* * *

"Private Kururugi, your mission is to traverse through the destroyed ghetto and to arrest the running rebels before they escape." announced calmly the voice of Cecile Croomy as the Japanese teen activated the system of the formidable seventh generation Knightmare, the Lancelot.

"Roger, I won't let those murderers escape. There are surely still people to save there."

Yet, as the Lancelot launched, the clock that had been an heirloom of the Japanese fell from his pocket and its pieces scattered on the cockpit floor.

'A bad omen.' Suzaku couldn't help but think, and yet he would have to cheat the odd of bad luck and death. For maybe his efforts would save his friend and that mysterious girl... that's, if they were still alive...

* * *

Kallen watched with a profound disbelief the devastated area, it was horrible perhaps, but they had incontestably won against overwhelming odd.

"That guy is truly awesome." she couldn't help but whisper in awe.

"That earthquake was a little exaggerated in my opinion, the whole ghetto is totally ruined. Well, at least we managed to save many citizens." commented Ohgi, obliviously troubled by what had happened in a mere few hours.

"And he sure do his job, we didn't record any loss since he took command." enchained Yoshida not with a great deal of respect for their unknown savior.

"Yeah, I told you we should risk it, that Zero guy is awesome !" All shook their heads at Tamaki statement, who had already forgotten that he had been against following Zero orders at first.

Ohgi sighed, today had been too much for his taste, and yet what they had wiped out of britannia force was beyond his expectations. Britannia had suffered more losses this afternoon than for the whole time his rebellion cell existed, including the time with Naoto.

"P-6, P-7, how is plan A going ?" All were startled by Zero's voice hurriedly coming from the transmitters.

"The explosives are set in both place." answered one of the rebel that had gone under the pseudo of P-6.

"Ready them for thirty-three, no, twenty seconds with three seconds interval. The rest of you stay by group of three and advance as fast as you can."

What could make him so worried ? The assurance that was here before was slightly shaken. In the end it was Kallen who asked the question.

"What is going on Zero ?"

"They're sending their monster, seventh generation Knightmare Lancelot." answered Zero adding even more to their confusion.

"Bah, what can a lone Knightmare do ?" asked Tamaki disdainful, they had just taken out almost a hundred Knightmare, why bother for one ?

"Because with its specs and pilot, it can take all of you down."

The statement made all rebels shut up, save for Kallen.

"Can't we ambush him and take it down ? Running with all those citizens will be difficult." She proposed, not wanting to flee again when they had done so much already.

"No." came the definite answer, leaving no discussion.

_**BOUM !**_

The first set of bomb exploded, the second following three seconds after as ordered.

Kallen looked behind, in time to see a white Knightmare landing at the end of their group.

Lancelot proudly stood on the street, his frame seeming totally uninjured even after taking two set of explosives straight in him.

She gritted her teeth, too late to run now. Fight was the only possible alternative.

Twenty meters away the white Knightmares brought out two long blades and took a step.

"I will not let you cause any meaningless death, surrender and you might earn forgiveness from your judges !"

A volley of gunshots answered his ultimatum.


	3. Chapter Two : Cheaters of death

**Code Geass - Back To Zero**

**Chapter Two : Cheaters of death**

_You cheat death every-time, oh white knight_

_you do not fear death because you seek redemption._

_But why do you think you survived so far ?_

_I can't allow my selfishness to hinder me anymore._

_Thus, thy who're my friend, I shall not allow you to make my followers fall._

_Suzaku Kururugi, your live and death is in your hand._

_For I cannot afford to show mercy to you, because you're too strong._

* * *

What followed the first bullets could hardly be called a fight, it was a plain one-sided and systematic destruction of the rebels machines. The first attacks had been dodged as the Lancelot jumped, still forced to block some lost bullets with a green sort of shield. The rebels DID have bad aims in the end, not that it was something to be proud of.

Nor did the Lancelot really care as he sent his two slash harkens which destroyed one Knightmare arm and the leg of another, he stomped on the ground and forced his way forward. Increasing its impulsion the white prototype flipped in midair while pulling back the slash harkens which spiraled as they went back, mercilessly destroying the opposition fac... not facing anymore.

"Get out of here !" The voice which came over the rebels radio was calm but nonetheless ordering.

There was a pause in the rebels movement which the Lancelot used to take care of two more rebels, reducing their numbers to Kallen in her Glassgow, dodging all her opponent attacks, and two other rebels who had been far enough to avoid the slaughter.

"You guys go, I'll delay it !"

"That's unneeded Q-1, you've your orders." came the voice of the enigmatic Zero cutting off the protest of the rebels.

"But..."

"That. Is. Unneeded." Insisted the man with a certain annoyance audible in his tone.

With a disappointed "Roger sir." the red Glassgow went into a mad run, only preceded by its two companions. The Lancelot stopped in its track, seemingly hesitating on the action to take.

Inside the cockpit...

Suzaku was looking at the running away rebels who had just abandoned their comrades to save themselves. The intercom flickered to life to let enter the voice of a joyful Lyold.

"Héhé, look like you did well with my baby there Suzaku, that was some nice moves you just showed us."

"You did very well Suzaku." came the more calm but noneless happy voice of Cecile Croomy.

And a third voice came in, the pompous voice of his highness Clovis. "Your toy has done wonders Lyold, now we can continue on with the operation."

Suzaku looked in disbelief at the scene through the screen, the prince still wanted to continue ? The terrorists were completely beaten so why continue to attack a place which had already suffered.

"We must finish those rebels before they escape or all the lives we've lost today will be for naught."

Suzaku hesitated a brief moment but surrendered to the logic of the prince and moved the Lancelot to continue the pursuit.

And then his captors detected something.

A knightmare, A Sutherland...

Nor really far, just above him in fact...

Falling toward him.

* * *

"Hum..." moaned the green haired woman whose whole body was tightly gripping her accomplice, she didn't like being in a giant shaker jumping down six floors.

Ignoring her protest Lelouch grinned as he saw the Lancelot turn its head toward him and look at his own machine, truly jumping down a building onto another Knightmare wasn't among the trick in the book.

Even so the lancelot _would_ dodge, Suzaku had just too good reflex to be caught. Except if you caused too much for him to handle.

Lelouch's eyes turned red instantly, fueled by the destructive intend which filled the man.

And then one word, one word throw with an unearthly force.

**"Break."**

Oh the joy as the Lancelot lost its balance, the ground it was on having been suddenly weakened by the cursed power.

The two giants collided, with all the force kinetic physique allowed.

_**BROUMMMMMMM**_

Lelouch laughed quietly, as expected Suzaku had raised the shield of the Lancelot, reducing the impact and barely avoiding a mutual destruction.

But Lelouch couldn't let him defend so easily could he ?

The words were uttered with a wicked satisfaction, at the edge of his madness he would have licked his lips in pleasure. Not anymore, but it still felt freaking good.

**"Break."**

Once again the cursed power called Geass affected the world structure, the almighty order affected the very existence of the target, the ground under the Lancelot.

A eight meter large area suffered the pressure of the power, that combined with the weight of now two Knightmares and just after the fall on one onto the other.

**_Crack_**

Suzaku sweat dropped in his cockpit as he heard the sinister sound coming from outside.

**_Crack_**

Lelouch took a quarter of second to wonder if he wasn't doing too much but well, Suzaku wouldn't die... probably...

And so the Sutherland without a care for the dangerous risk of having them both under the ground pulled the cable from one his slash harkens, which had been left on the building above.

The gigantic piece of metal came while destroying the roof and bringing with it many red tubes tied behind it.

Then Lelouch activated the auto-eject.

* * *

Suzaku body seemed to turn into ice as his eyes caught what were the red things on the opponent slash harkens.

He saw the cockpit of his opponent eject which left no doubts to this mad guy intention, but it also let him free hands.

The Lancelot let himself feel on his back, praying for the energy filler to resist the pressure. Suzaku placed the Knightmare's palms on the ground and pulled its legs on his belly under the pilot-less Sutherland.

And then he pushed !

The feet hit the blue machine with all the Lancelot had, managing to throw the offender in the air, something which would make all physicians scandalized considering the weight being moved was in tonnes.

A dark slash harkens scrapped its owner by the side, the red tubes following.

Suzaku fired one of his own slash harkens, praying whatever god present around here to help him.

_**BOUMMMMMM !**_

The impact dwarfed Suzaku and all living beings around as one hundred kilos of explosives did their job midair.

Larges pieces of metals were torn and throw apart as the Sutherland was transformed into a giant puzzle for muscled men. The glass of the windows and of the cameras of the Lancelot were destroyed alike in the explosion.

The Honorary Britannien placed the machine arms before him and let the shower of steel rain upon him. The large corpse of the Sutherland fell and he flipped over, ignoring the further damage he was causing to the prototype.

A silence of three seconds, Suzaku almost sighed in relief after having escaped such a mad attack.

Then dozens of red tubes scattered in the airs fell upon, free from the ropes that tied them to the first big set of explosives.

Suzaku eyes widened in horror...

_**BAM ! BADAM ! BOUM ! BAM !**_

...and the sound of dozens of explosions echoed as the street was ravaged by the unforgiving shells of powder.

* * *

Around the northern-west part of Shinjuku things had token a strange turns.

First, the gathering of the refuges had been going well and most hoped to get away far enough to escape the britannian army. Alas fate played them a bad trick as the scouts were shoot at from afar.

The groupe of Elevens (or Japaneses) was spread in line over four hundred meters and confusion destroyed the little control the rebels had on the citizens. Following that a exchange of bullets and roughly two hundred elevens happened before the situation was more or less stabilized.

Second, Oghi guessed with a good accuracy that some infantry soldiers had entered a car-factory and probably delayed in searching survivor found the escaping elevens. Now the problem was that the factory was close a stronghold with many cover for the defenders, assuming the cover didn't blow up in a fire alongside with all the essence of course.

Third, they had three Knightmares in their ranks to blow up the britannien and used them in a giant firework where the soldiers were the losers.

Fourth, underestimating their opponent communication systems had been a bad idea, a party of six Sutherlands decided it was time to join the encounter.

Sadly for the rebels, the three pilots in their ally Sutherlands had no previous experience of using Knightmares and two of them got destroyed before doing signifiant damage. Only the rebel Yoshitaka Minami managed a spectacular comeback bringing down three metallic opponents before hiding. That said, perhaps britannien losses would have been lesser if a couple of pilots hadn't forgotten to turn of the mounted IFF systems as they were instructed.

Around that time, the first set of explosives was raining down on the Lancelot and the situation here became a standstill. The britannien hesitated to attack without support, fearing that the unknown persona that took so many of their comrades down was preparing something nasty, they choose carefully to "Wait for the others so they can have fun too." hoping the prototype the higher-up sent would help turn a tide that wasn't so much at their advantage.

On the opposite side, the rebels were scattered on different buildings and nervously looked at the obstacle that blocked their way, waiting for an order to advance that wasn't coming.

Oghi was troubled, their mysterious temporary commander had instructed Karen and the others to get back multiple times before he was finally obeyed. The question was : would it be wiser to attack now before enemy reinforcement arrive or wait till their allies came back and they would be able to pass through the five remaining Knightmares.

And so the situation went on a standstill for some time with each side looking at each other lack of movement.

* * *

On the britannien mobile headquarters Clovis la Britannia was surrounded by a stunned silence as the defeat of the Lancelot had been observed from the beginning to the end through the cameras in the white Knightmare.

Behind his mask of indifference Clovis couldn't help but qualify the pilot of the Sutherland as anything else than completely crazy. The attack that the Lancelot had suffered was risky... and would have been a complete overkill for anything else than the Lancelot.

"Which mean they knew it would be launched ?" mumbled Clovis, asking no one in particular.

But no, this wasn't possible, they had no pilots for the seventh generation Knightmare at the start of the battle and he had no plan of using it.

Then he had prepared all that in the little interval of four minutes between the first contact with the Lancelot and the moment of beginning this craziness ? Impossible, that was ridiculous.

At that moment Bartney, his loyal dog general leaned toward him, making a very embarrassed face.

"Your highness ?"

"What is it now ?" Asked Clovis feigning being calm.

"The laboratory, someone invaded it." whispered the wimpy far man.

The scream of painful surprise that came from the prince startled all the people present in the room as well as all those currently with their channel open on the right (or wrong) frequency.

More than one believed another disaster to have happened, they were right thought they didn't know it wasn't on the battlefield.

There were so many times of silence in this place today. noted Clovis sidetracked for a second.

But he composed himself once again though his teeth were shaking badly. He gestured with his finger for bartney to approach and barely restrained himself from gripping the man.

"Who is invading and how much ?"

"We aren't sure, there are conflicting reports. Some state that it's officer Bretan that turned traitor alone, but he himself reported us that the scientific have been captured by European spies and are giving us false reports."

Clovis eyes widened both in confusion and surprise.

"European here ? what could they be doing here ?" He frowned thinking. He could send support to Bretan but the capable and cruel man probably had already token all the special forces with him, he could hardly allow himself to let more people find that laboratory of his. In spite of the situation his lips went slightly upward, Braten couldn't have turned traitor, what were those fool spies thinking ? He looked at Bratley, the man was sweating, holiness he could use a bath and a lot of parfume...

"Bratley, we'll let Braten handle this for now, he should have the abilities and the forces to take care of it. For now let's focus on this Shinjuku's mess and take back the _gas capsule_.

The man nodded and moved back into a corner of the command room, preparing his cell phone to contact once again the officer.

"What about those rebels on north-west ? Are they taken down yet ?" The sudden question throw in a surprisingly commanding tone startled the people around Clovis and they hurriedly went back to work.

"There is a standstill, our forces are blocking the rebels escape but half of the Sutherland sent in support have been wiped out and they call for support so they can avoid 'unwanted consequences' as they said."

"Send the infantry from point A1, A2 and B3 around the rebels place, surround them. Also find me those three rebels Knightmares that escaped the Lancelot."

Clovis wondered what inspired him like that, why he remembered his long deceased brother Lelouch playing chess with him. He didn't know but he feel happy for some reason.

He would win this, without a doubt. His royal blood was finally showing the true strength of its roots.

"I'll win this game, brother." he whispered, his hands hold together.

* * *

In the ghetto Lelouch was weighing his options and his priorities.

The objectives were simple enough, he had to make sure him and his witch get out of here without being noticed and filed by the britannian army. If he could also make the commander, his brother Clovis, retreat, and maybe have all the rebels safe, alive and running that would be perfect.

However there were a few problems too.

First off he couldn't move freely while carrying C.C. who was still weakened, recuperation was always slow when it was after overuse of Geass after all. Second since he had his Sutherland used as jumping material and explosive content, all the radars and radio functions in the cockpits were off and thus he couldn't pinpoint the opponent locations anymore. Third, his clothes were too damn tight.

Now in options... He knew all to well.

They were few options for him now, by using his own machine as a killing unit he had reduced his possibilities. Still, did he had to kill Clovis, his own brother once again ?

L.L caressed his accomplice cheek who still rested silently in his arms. Around them the devastation was dimly lighted by the sun beginning to come down, all of it visible as two-third of the wall in their vicinity had been destroyed.

Outside were... so many people, so many that hadn't been saved during the one-sided slaughter.

Not everyone can be saved, that was a truth he had accepted a very long time ago.

His childhood seemed to be thousands years away.

The conclusion was, today another one wouldn't be saved...

_...really..._

_What changed you Clovis ? I never really knew why someone who loved art so much, who greatest pleasure was to paint our happy days at Airies._

_Why did you seek immortality, why are you committing those atrocities ?_

_

* * *

_

_I clenched my hands on the sides of my chair, pathetic resemblance of a throne. I felt tense, now I could only wait hoping my actions would change the flow of the battle._

_What absurdity, is the world so chaotic that no-one is rewarded for their efforts and that impossible situations keep happening ?_

_Mother wasn't rewarded for all her efforts and ended up on the side line despite all her talents. Still she isn't ambitious so that was fine but..._

_Marianne, Schneizel, Lelouch, Cornelia..._

_The four of them had so much talents and yet half of them are dead already, despite that they've intellect, birth or physical aptitudes all completely beyond me._

_Nor the kindness of Nunally protected her from the horrors of this world._

_My teeth were clenched so tightly behind the fake smile I wore, all of this was so absurd !_

_And one day all I've done, all those beautiful figure last remnant of those good times would vanish ?_

_I would keep pretending with all those bird-brained woman to be a cultured gentleman ?_

_No ! I'll remove all obstacles on my path to become immortal, I'll outclass all of those who mocked me as lacking skill and intelligence._

_Then I'll be able to rule, stand over everyone and create a world where those tragedies won't happens._

_Lelouch, you who appear to me in this battle looking at me with your indulgent face and those endlessly captivating purple eyes, I'll surpass this trial and take you as my inspiration._

_So that, in the end even you will acknowledge me !

* * *

_

_...no..._

_Maybe from the beginning you were like this, I've just been blind from the truth, shielded by the affection and I must admit, the slight disdain I had for you._

_I do not know why do you seek immortality, why you need it so much that you order such horrors but..._

_I, as Lelouch will not accept the murderer you've become, and I, as Zero will not accept that slaughter of the weak._

_Your greed, your avidity and your wish. I shall end them all today !_

* * *

//Author Note : I actually though that this chapter would conclude but with a few more scenes here and there I'm already above the 3000 minimum limit that I use, plus it was a good place to finish this chapter.

Otherwise I should say that I'm sorry for not updating more, entering university make one quite busy plus two times I ended up losing part of my work as my computer got disconnected from fanfiction when I was saving the chapter...

Well in the end here come the chapter which I hope you enjoyed. I personally am amazed as how Clovis is faring and twisted a few things. Overall I am proud of my work and would fell discouraged if it didn't bring any review.

See you next chapter dear readers (don't promise I'll make it soon, but at least I'll intend too)/


	4. Chapter Three : Transition by killing

**AN : Onward with third chapter, I'll actually have to fix a couple of inconsistensy with Villeta but for plot sake I decided not to refuse to make a little change at it. I also racked my brain for the chapter end, now have a good reading and don't forget to write a couple of reviews.**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Three : Transition by killing**

_Killing, it's a blunt word yet fitting the brutal changes that it creates._

_I do not, and must not, believe it's a minor thing, yet I shall not hesitate to do it._

_As the line between love and hate is thin, the difference between lying and killing is small._

_At least I hope to do the first one more easily than the latter... and yet._

_I know both are bad, as a liar cannot wish to be lied to, nor a killer hope to be killed._

_Nevertheless, I'll keep on living to change this world._

_If the strongest impose his ideals, then I'll become the strongest and impose mines._

_That way, even those weaker than me can be happy..._

* * *

The eerie silence that reigned on the place where the two sides opposed each other was but an illusion of peace. For the rebels and the many eleven refuges gathered, it was quite nerve-cracking to have to wait, their path blocked by just a few people.

Sadly, those "few" people had knightmares and a very good defensive position. An assault would be nothing short of suicide. Passing by the severs had been envisaged but as they hadn't been properly maintained, the way were obstructed by obstacles.

The arrival of Kallen in her Glasgow accompanied by her two remaining comrades in Sutherland happened at a good time to relieve their spirits. Kallen hurried to call her unofficial tutor as she caught sight of him.

"Oghi, how are things down here ?" The Japanese man sighed.

"We're struck at a standstill and even with your support it won't be easy to break out of here. How did it go with that 'prototype' ?"

"A pure monster !" exclaimed one of the two Sutherland, still shocked from his encounter with the white machine.

"It took all but us three down in no time an with no damage on his part."

Kallen face twisted into frustrated rage as she said that.

"Yeah" She acquiesced "I hope Zero got out some trick under his sleeves because I can't see how we could beat it."

"And now thank to that guy we're struck here." complained Tamaki as he kicked some trash on the ground.

Then a mockingly cold voice came over the radio, startling the rebels.

"It's refreshing to heard your trust in me."  
"Ze-Zero ?"

It startled the rebels to heard the same voice, of someone that they didn't even know and yet they had to rely so much on.

"What about the prototype Zero ?" asked Oghi instead of answering in his confusion.

"Taken down, now report."

There was a stunned pause as the information was digested by the rebels and more specifically by those who had an encounter with the monstrosity.

"Well... we're struck here, five Knightmares took defensive positions in the car factory and can't be taken down, also the sewers are unpractical.

"How much since contact ?"

"Roughly ten minutes."

"I see. There's no helping it then." There was a dark meaning in his words that made uneasy the rebels.

"O-Oy, you aren't gonna abandon us now ?"

The shout coming from the heart of one rebel spread on the group like wildfire-

"No."

-only to be extincted by the steeled voice of their mysterious temporally appointed commander.

"Get to coordinates E-seven and hide the Knightmares you've underground, the britannien should retreat soon afterward."

"Why would they do that Zero ?" asked the leader of the small terrorist cell, once again throw into confusion.

"That's, I'll simply ta-..."

The transmitter suddenly went silent.

"Oghi ! All radio systems are death, they're jamming the area !"

The annonce that Kallen made over the external speaker reminded every fool around that the battle was still going on.

"Let's move, we can't pass here."

"Yeah... and hopefully hiding right in the district will help us pass ?"

Inoue comment made everyone a little distraught, still they didn't have much choice and could only hope that Zero wouldn't abandon them.

Still to make the britannien retreat ? How could such a miracle happens ?

And then, as they were ready to move... A hail of bullet tore apart walls.

Reinforced by a fresh squad of six Knightmares, the enemy attacked.

Zero stared at the suddenly silent radio, his mind briefly blank at the unexpected event.

Then he heard the sound of helicopters, glancing from his position between the tables of a restaurant he saw three flying machines advance quickly in the air.

Two of them left the last one which landed on a high roof a few hundred of meters away from him. He noted they had been each carrying metal blocs roughly a third as large as an helicopter.

"Jamming." he commented dryly, that was a move he hadn't expected at all. Of course the communicator he had picked up couldn't beat high tech jamming.

No change of plan though, the rebels had to survive on their own for the time being.

Lelouch glanced at his sleeping accomplice and he briefly envied her as the whole thing was beginning to worn him out.

He glanced at the end of the street and his lips went slightly upwards. Then he left the wrecked terrace of the restaurants, ignoring the already rotting corpses of the elevens, he paid more attention to the ground which had been destroyed upon a gigantic impact.

An impact produced by the collision of the ground with hundred tonnes, after all for all badly it had been maintained the thirty-four floor buildings it still weighed a lot.

As his objective, an annihilated squad of britannien soldier had tested with their bodies. Nevertheless to say that it hadn't ended well for the testers.

Between the falling building and the fall of rocks, the madness he created through Kallen had been deadly efficient. Now he only had to find two uniforms presentable enough for what he planned...

* * *

Silence, the silence would be mind-breaking to most people as the scene one could observe in the laboratory was but a refreshing sight.

As the special division had to go to Shinjuku to retrieve their subject, the place had been left with barely any guard.

Roughly twenty people and over three out of four were researchers

Had been researchers.

Now their brains which failed to discover the secrets of the Code were rendered useless by the ultimate disease know as Death. The soldiers had all been taken out before they could react, no-one expected their leader to betray them nor to kill them with unnatural efficient and coldness. The rest of the vermin the prince Clovis granted the privilege to work on the Code had posed even less resistance.

The traitor Bretan didn't pay attention to his underlings death which he had caused, the cursed power of Geass leaving him but the orders of the black prince.

He finished gathering the documents and checked the little machine he had token earlier. Lucky was the black prince to have subjugated someone like Bretan, erasing all the data would be simple with the little EMP bomb he had token. Explosives split around the whole complex would make sure nothing would be left to salvage, just in case.

With the odd calm present in geassed people the officer continued his task, two red circles around his pupils...

* * *

Three women in the squad Lelouch noted offhandedly, a little less than he expected among the sixteen soldiers which were visible. He oddly wondered if sexism was making its way into britannia army, or if the others were crushed by the buildings or had escaped.

He pushed away the pointless question and gently placed C.C on the ground, letting her back lean on the fallen building. Then he proceeded to retrieve two uniform which would fit them and would be in a correct state.

Zero, or Lelouch had considered the possibility that infantry units would be around here, guarding the access of an underground tunnel close from here. Said access, however, was now closed off by the debris and was impracticable but he didn't needed to use it anyway.

He only needed to retrieve a couple of uniform which would fit them, and then...

* * *

C.C Watched passively as her contractor moved with swift ease on the damaged grounds, it was a good thing L.L. Kept at least most of his physicals abilities, for his enhancing technique though revolutionary needed some time to work. Time that he visibly wouldn't take for such trivial matters now.

She wondered if he had though of the consequences of their actions. No, that was wrongly formulated. The genius always see things severals steps ahead of her, not matter how hard she could try, even a hard-working person cannot beat a hard-working genius.

What she wanted to ask him was, how would he react when seeing again people he had knew and that were close to him? Already when he became the revolutionary the first time around his relations with his school friends changed, simply because his world changed too. For her who accepted the flow of things more by resignation than anything else it was still fine, but what about him?

How would that constantly evolving man above men would feel seeing people he knew not knowing him or having no memories of what he did?

_'I am not alone, you still remember me.'_

The woman kept staring at the man face, one really couldn't call him just a boy anymore. Her face partly hidden by the helm that L.L made her put on for discretion sake showed no more expression than his stern face.

_'Right...'_

She answered simply, there was no more words needed.

Words were suddenly spoken and she turned her head slightly, britannien soldiers. L.L didn't slow down while they shouted at how miraculous they were for having escaped the disaster.

And he just told them that he had to hurry to get her treated as fast as possible, the blood on their uniform accenting the point.

They proposed to help, he shook his head saying that they would better hurry, for it was still possible that more soldiers could be saved. The soldiers complied, once again C.C could only be amazed as how L.L was able to switch roles and adapt instantly, hearing the prideful man act like a frightened worried soldier felt odd.

"We're almost here." he said as they approached the britannien base, his posture changing as the worried soldier faded and absolute confidence literally leaked from his voice, eyes and movements.

Truly, this was the biggest between the two of them. Her fellow immortal abilities didn't need to be enhanced by the cursed power nor the Code, his naturals abilities refined to their fullest were enough to bring nations down.

She smiled smuggly, how she hoped that Marianne was present as well, her son's actions would make her an easy teasing material.

C.C was going to **really **enjoy screwing up her lover's mother!

* * *

When more infantry soldiers came supported by helicopters and an handful of armed motors, the rebels were fairly certain to be doomed.

It would be a fiveteen to one fight with inferior armament and limited weapon. The possibility of making it out alive on their own was too low for any of them to even joke about it.

"At least it would be better if there wasn't citizens brought into it." commented Oghi somberly as he observed the britannien surrounding them slowly, destroying the remain of the ghetto in order to provide themselves with covers. Brief exchange of bullets were done but the presence of the knightmares ready to rush out of the facility at any moment notice rendered unable the rebels to block the oncoming slaughter.

"Damn, I'll tear them all apart." fumed Kallen as her hand tightened on her controls, they did well but in the end it wasn't enough to survive against the might of Britannia. At least she supposed the semi-defeat they brought upon britannien forces would boost up the resistances movements in Japan.

It happened suddenly, a lone Sutherland jumped outside the facility and rushed toward them, one arm behind his back as he approached the rebels. Brief but intensive sounds of detonations echoed from both sides.

And the Chaos grenade, throw by that lone Sutherland. A piece of metal a quarter as tall as a Sutherland containing thousand of pieces of metals made to destroy all opposition. The rebels poor barricades and the degraded walls of the ghetto wouldn't be able to resist it.

Kallen realized it as she made her Glasgow jump forward while the Chaos was only beginning to be throw, she could do it, she had to.

The pilot of the Sutherland moved back under the fire of her allies while the deadly object flew higher and higher in the air.

Then the redhead did the unthinkable, it would be later be one of her most well know exploit and dozen of Black Knights recruits would suffer her rage while attempting and failing at repeating it.

The Glasgow's remaining hand grabbed the corned the Chaos mines less then five seconds before it would unleash hell, destroying the Chaos mine wasn't an option as all the metal inside would spread around instead of going in one wide arc. Kallen made her machine leg jump upward turning the Chaos mine orientation as she did so, then she used one of the Sutherland shoulder as a support and made her machine spin in midair, releasing the chaos mine her machine continued its course in the air above the weapon that started unleashed its raging shells against his original thrower.

Unforgiving the Sutherland was annihilated alongside his pilots while Kallen clenched her teeth preparing for the oncoming impact with the ground.

The Chaos mine raged for exactly seventy seconds, not ceasing one moment to pour waves of metals upon the already beaten Sutherland.

A shocked silence followed when the mine stopped, which Kallen smartly used to get back with the other rebels.

Then the two sides awoke, screams of cheers and rages echoing from both sides as they both charged against each others. Any idea of discipline temporally forgotten as the two forces clashed uncaring of anything but a thrilling thirst to kill the other side.

The clash quickly turned into a disorganized chaos when a few smoke bombs exploded and blinded the sight of both sides.

A sentence amplified through externals speakers came over the ghetto, buried under the fire it still caught the attention of both forces who stopped fighting as they heard a certain word.

"...ceasefire taking immediate effect on the whole operation area, all forces are to stop harming elevens and treat the injured ones. Refusal to obey this order will be considered as treason under my authority as Prince of the Holy Britannien Empire!"

Clovis's declaration made more than one person confused as to what to do, many looked around for the allies in order to reach some decisions. Then the britannien soldiers retreated in reluctant but disciplined order while still keeping an eye on the rebels.

"What just happened?" asked a rebel.

"I'd also like to known that." answered Oghi perplexed by the sudden change of situation. Kallen breathed in relief.

"I though we were goner here."

"I wouldn't have thought it seeing what kind of stunt you pulled." Sugiyama said with a hint of admiration in his voice.

"Yeah Kallen, that was awesome!"

"Thanks." she whispered in response as she glanced in the direction of the command center impossible to see at this distance. "Zero... was it?"

* * *

Lelouch looked silently as the last words of the ceasefire were spoken by his brother. Once he was done with his speech Clovis leaned back on his throne asking him "What now my dear intruder?" with a disabused smile.

The immortal disguised as a soldier played with his gun while pondering on things.

"Always the same conclusion... Really how did we end up in this situation?" He laughed briefly "Now, what idle thoughts I've. Even if this battle was like a chess match, the reason for it is on a completely different level."

Clovis raised his eyebrows at the word 'chess', surprised that someone else made the same relation as he did. Yet he was sure that this well built man with such a confident voice was no one he knew..

"And again, no matter how many games we play together you still lose. No matter what is at stake."

"Do I have the pleasure to know you by chance?" asked Clovis trying to sound unconcerned through he was trying really hard to figure just who was before him."

The man laughed.

"Ahahah... Indeed you can't recognize me, I've changed a lot since then. Even so that's hardly an excuse for having your dear brother almost killed in those sinister tunnels." Clovis moved his hand away from his head and stared at the helm, surprised by the man words.

"Brother?" _'Someone who I played many games with too?'_ Clovis stare became erratic as his mind frantically tried to grasp the truth.

"It has been a very long time, Clovis." Lelouch said simply as he removed his helm with his free hand and smiled almost kindly at his brother. The key word being 'almost'.

Clovis mouth eyes widened as his mouth opened uttering syllables, his whole body bent forward and his hands grasped tightly the arms of his throne.

"Le-Le-Leouch?" In the darkness of the room he could only stare at the form of his brother who he believed dead for years. "You're really Lelouch?" he questioned again, so hard it was to piece together the frail body of Lelouch as a child with the man that stood before him, an adult at the peak of its capacities. It resembled the young Lelouch and yet it was so different, bearing himself with a bearing that right now surpassed the Emperor himself.

"Yes Clovis, your dear brother for whose today have been a day as long as a century. I must thank you for being so efficient in setting ablaze the fire of my hate for this current world, for this empire of Britannia for whose my hate burn anew infinitely fueled by despicable actions."

"Ah yes Lelouch, I'm sorry that they tried to kill you in those tunnels, though I see that you escaped safely. But don't let that get on you, I am sure our family will be very happy to see you ag..."

"No."

"What?"

"They'll surely not be happy to see me again, though not as unhappy as all the people you killed in this place I suppose." Lelouch said in a cold voice, stating facts more than accusing.

Clovis paled.

"Now Lelouch, they're just elevens, people of royal nobles like us can't concern ourselves with their lives like that, besides they were terrorists."

"Spare me the lies!" Lelouch's voice boomed with an impressive force. "Most were innocents, which you knew. The only reason you went so far was because you were scared of someone, anyone, to tell about your dirty secret." Lelouch stares became menacing. "Human experimentation, research on immortality, repeated tortures on a living person."

Clovis arms lost their strength as the last presence of blood deserted from his face, leaving it completely white. "Lelouch, I can explain." Lelouch approached, the tip of the gun touching Clovis's head.

"Explain what? That you used C.C as your little toy while almost killing your brother and committing a slaughter. That's gonna take a LOT of explaining."

"Lelouch? Don't, don't do that! We're brothers remember?"

Lelouch eyes lighted in red as he turned on his power, he smirked.

"Indeed we're family in this bullshit family that is the Britannia family. A family where it's perfectly normal to kill another member of your family."

"Le-Lelouch!"

"Now... answer my questions."

* * *

_BANG_

Lelouch stared silently at the death mass of flesh that had been his brother, the first time he had adrenaline pushing him. It had been his first kill with his own hands, not with the Geass or hidden in some war machine.

This time however he knew he wouldn't be sick of Clovis's death, it might be disgusting to say it but... it just felt... right. An unalterable conclusion that Clovis bought onto himself.

Slowly, he turned and said one and only one word.

**"Come."**

He stared as the woman entered, her movements stiff under the influence of Geass. Her long silver hairs were dirty from the ash flying in the ghetto. His geass might not work well permanently like it did before, it had some other troublesome issue like deterioration of the target's mind. But allowing multiple uses was quite a fair deal.

With a smirk he handled her the gun whose chamber was still hot from firing the single piece of metal that now rested inside his brother.

**"Stand by Clovis corpse until someone come and forget all about me here."**

Yes, he had to tell them to forget now, otherwise they still wouldn't remember being put under Geass but they would remember their actions under its influence, which in many cases proved to be troublesome.

Village walked to his brother corpse and he glanced one last time at her unmoving form and left the place.

He passed a soldier keeping guard outside, triggering the command he placed earlier on the man. The soldier rushed into the command soldier believing he just heard a gunshot, then he would find the member of the pureblood faction with the dead prince.

And of course, with the weapon still in her hand. The camera that could have proved Villeta innocent had an unfortunate accident and would have no record of the whole day.

Oh yes, he was having fun with charging the pureblood with the murder, especially since that woman had involved one of his friend back then. Plus when he was emperor, he kind of suspected that Oghi having a relation with a britannien was no completely unrelated to his treason.

Leaving the area where the deadly new was beginning to spread he rejoined his accomplice on a car whose he had 'politely asked' some businessman to lend him.

The orange color of the sky seemed to fit his shinning red eyes as he rejoiced, ready once again to do what it takes for his goals.

"This isn't over yet." He said to himself while C.C smiled slightly at this sentence whose secret's meaning was only know to those two.

* * *

In another alley of the town a certain redhead walked back home as Oghi had ordered her to stay hidden for the coming days, she had refused to be accompanied back home despite his insistences. The events of the day had happened so fast and she would need to think things over after a good night of sleep.

A brief lack of vigilance was her doom, as suddenly she felt cold metal on her head and someone taking her down.

"Wha.. Who?" She tried to struggle but despite her excellent strength she couldn't shake off her attacker, she stopped moving only when she felt the disagreeable touch of the barrel of a gun.

"Miss Kouzuki, I arrest you under the charges of terrorism, assault onto the securities forces and illegal carrying of weapons."

The young girl felt a chill run through her spin as her worst fear were realized.

Pinning the young rebel, Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald pondered on the odd way of fates that make him catch the sister of the man he had made executed mere weeks ago.


	5. Chapter Four : Exchanged Framing

**AN : A transition chapter that I actually managed to write down pretty fast. Obliviously since we just finished quite a battle there isn't much actions through there is plenty eye-candy. Smart people might know where the next following chapters are headed. Now before I release on the three thousands words under this a little equation : L.L+V.V+Code-Immortality=?**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Four : Exchanged Framing**

_Seeing the school of Ashford gave me mixed feelings. As it was destroyed later then rebuild, it felt strange to see it stand again._

_A reminder of my mortal life, a happy time where wars and death weren't yet brought by my hands._

_One place of a kind that welcomed him after getting out of a bloody and merciless battlefield, or slaughterfield as the aeriel bombardements left no place for any form of resistance._

_How would I react with the friends I used to have there?_

_Could I still be with them like I used to? And more importantly, did I wish to stay with them that way?_

_My thoughts wandered as I advanced in the flowery alleys, the romantic smell of roses making me conscious of C.C in my arms._

_My heard raced, I could heart its beating shaking my whole body._

_As I reached the place that once I called home, I placed an impassible mask on my face._

_The entry door slided as I entered the code, then I was greeted by a sweet memory._

_"Welcome home, nii-sama."_

_I saw the place which I had only faint memories of, I saw a familiar Japanese mail widen her eyes in surprise._

_I only stared at the blind young girl in a wheelchair, that smiled at me._

_And for once, with the two people I loved most with me, I forgot all I had to do. Merely content of being here._

_"I am home Nunaly."_

* * *

Nunaly was lost in thoughts as she headed to her classes in her wheelchair. Her dear brother seemed different when he came back late the last evening. His intonation had been different, it had been very gentle but there was also something that she couldn't describe...

His steep too, she actually had a doubt when she heard his step, they weren't too sure at the moment but they were also louder. It had bothered her but once she found out that he had been carrying a person it all made sense.

Then he had told them that the girl was named C.C (initials for a name?) and she had saluted weakly, seemingly tired. After that Lelouch said that C.C was going to stay with them for the time being, having circumstances that were similar to theirs.

_"Something wrong... Sayoko?"_

Had she imagined his hesitation at her name?

_"No... I just wondered where miss C.C will sleep."_

_"That isn't an issue Sayoko, she'll stay with me."_

It was rare to heard Sayoko break something, but the distinct sounds of glass shattering was clear, visibly she should have posed the carafe instead of holding it after pouring Nunaly her tea.

_"Now now, let's see the kitchen..."_

When Lelouch went to bake some pizza in the kitchen after making C.C sit opposite to Nunaly, Nunaly wondered what kind of chant Sayoko starting singing. Some things about 'Exorcism', 'Possession' and 'Charms'.

Truly it had been an evening full of wonders.

"Nunaly !"

"Hello Milly, are you in a hurry?" She blind girl asked kindly as the president seemed to take deep breath.

"Did you see Lelouch since last afternoon?" The school president asked with barely concealed worry in her voice .

Nunaly smiled kindly.

"Yes, in fact..."

And then she proceeded to explain the whole evening to Milly attentive ears.

* * *

Lelouch woke up slowly from from his slumber. It took him a few seconds to remember where he was, or more accurately when he was. As he reviewed the events of last day in his mind, he found his fingers beginning to traces line on the nude back of her accomplice and he smiled gently. Truly if he hadn't C.C with him he would surely have a mental breakdown by now, as one of the hardest trial of an immortal was to keep their sanity relatively... sane.

Speaking of immortality, Lelouch wondered was this nagging feeling in his neck. Something feeling vaguely wrong but he still couldn't place it.

He sighed as he forcefully dismissed the feeling, he would have to look more into the subject later but for now he had a lot of work to do.

The Clock passed ten o'clock a little though they had been going to sleep as soon as they hit the bed, feeling too tired to do anything else. Then again, considering what had happened recently this wasn't surprising.

Lelouch regretfully left the warm body of the woman on the bed and headed to the bathroom, reviewing the tasks of the day as he did so.

First he would have to command his new Zero suit, he had to work on it fast if he wanted some changes to be made before he would really need it. The original uniform existed only to conceal his identity and create a symbol, now... it was more than that.

Because he, as a genius, took every possible advantages in a situation.

He would have to find Kallen and prepare his invitation for the birth of the Black Knights, sure there was others ways into taking down britannia but not without over-relying on his Geass. And doing that always ended badly.

And... he would have to buy C.C some clothes.

He smirked while his eyes shone in anticipation, oh he was sooo gonna screw up with the vendor in the feminine shops, even if he had to do it alone.

Truly, when you aren't embarrassed of doing things, life could become **really** fun.

* * *

"Your position, even if it's temporal, is suspicious Lord Jeremiah."

"I understand that major Haddock. Even so, you must admit that too many things are unclear to conclude that Villeta killed his highness."

The major sighed, and on the invitation of Jeremiah took a chair. The investigation following the Viceroy murder was in as much as a mess that the military command chain was at the moment.

"Many contest your taking over as the Sub-viceroy position even if you're currently the highest ranked officer here."

Jeremiah nodded somberly.

"As the leader of the Pureblood faction it's hard for me to command an investigation where my subordinate is the prime suspect, isn't that what you mean?"

"Completely."

Jeremiah passed his left hand on his head, how Villeta ended up by his highness Clois with the weapon of murder in her hand was beyond him.

"I actually would agree with you, the thing that bother me major, is that Villeta pretend to have forgotten what happened."

"Hardly believable if I may say so."

Jeremiah nodded slightly.

"Normally yes, the problem is with all the people who were with his highness Clovis at the time, they all left the place but they all pretend to have forgotten why."

Major Haddock snickered. "It smell like conspiracy."

"A badly done one in that case. Did I also mention that all record of not only the moment of his highness demise but also of the whole days got wiped out."

The major eyebrows moved upward puzzled. "Yes I know that, what of it?"

"It was a mechanical failure from the report, no one would believe in an accident. But the manner it's done..." Jeremiah bend his fingers together, thinking.

"May you get to the point lord Jeremiah?"

"It was done by someone who had a good knowledge of the electromechanical system of the command center, in other words..."

"Someone from the technician team."

An heavy silence passed between the two men. After a long pause the major finally spoke and made a gesture of the hand toward the outside.

"Then, what do we do about...?"

Jeremiah crossed his palms and took a breath before speaking.

"We do what you hate major, politic actions."

* * *

"Exactly how did you caught up to me?" asked Lelouch as he stared puzzled at his accomplice who approached him in broad daylight dressed in an Ashford feminine school uniform.

"That's a woman's secret Lelouch." she answered with an amused smile. "How is Zero going?"

"On its way for a revolution, though I would prefer somewhere else to speak about it." Lelouch say while making sure the few documents he had gathered didn't risk to fall from the pocket inside his vest.

"Well then my warlock, where are you heading now?" C.C asked as she caught his arm in her and stick closer to him, her breath entering his ear.

Lelouch smiled smugly while staring in her yellow eyes.

"Your warlock try some magic spell that turn witch into dress-up dolls for a few hours."

C.C laughter echoed in the alley as Lelouch dragged her in some clothes shop.

"Why, I though you liked the restraining suit? Or do you hate white colors that much?"

"Oh, I don't really mind anymore though I would prefer to avoid being labeled at 'that'." he paused a second and added as an afterthought. "admittedly it gives me a splendid idea for your own suit."

Saying that he made C.C spin at the shop's entry and brought her close, then kissed her briefly but deeply while holding her chin with his free hand.

"I'll love it **very** much." he added as he distanced himself once again and dragged her inside the shop.

"You will, but will I oh great warlock?" C.C teased wondered what wicked idea the man had come up with again.

Lelouch laughed, fully decided this as much as he could.

For tomorrow the war between him and britannia would truly start, and he wouldn't stop until he crushed his damn father once again.

* * *

Inoue felt happy when the small britannien shop in which she worked seemed to have a calm day. After the extremely stressing battle yesterday, she wanted nothing more than a peaceful day. She managed the stocks of the shop but still often took care of the clients, obliviously in a britannien area it wasn't always simple for an Eleven to go by but she had to support her and her brother.

Their little resistance group had no financial support from bigs groups like Kyoto after all and nor food nor weapons were free.

Back to the point, Inoue fond her peaceful day ruined just as she finished eating a snack at forty past noon.

A couple of britannien stormed in the shop, a man pulling a smiling student girl with green hairs.

You could sense their happiness from miles away, it was literally radiating from their faces. The boy was dressed in a white shirt and black jeans and was handsome by both Japanese and britannien standards. His purple eyes widened a millisecond when he saw her but instead of frowning like britannien nobles, his smile only widened. She wasn't sure she liked his teasing smile.

"What do you need mister?" she asked politely, pulling a fake smile over her face. Seeing such happiness the day after a slaughter was only making her depressed.

"Clothes for my... fiancée. Quite a lot if I might add." Lelouch said, hesitating briefly as to what he should call C.C.

Inoue stared a little at the man, he was young but he seemed a little older than the girl. His musculature played in it she supposed.

"Then we can try some ensembles, do you know her sizes?" her question was directed at the girl and she was already readying her meter.

However the man leaned and whispered in her ear three numbers.

"Oh, you still remember them warlock? I'm surprised." The girl asked, her innocent front falling as her face turned into a teasing one. She felt older like this, with her piercing yellow eyes staring at the man face by Inoue side.

"Not being able to forget anything about you must be one of your spell, oh dear witch." the man answered while calling his fiancée in a weird nickname. the girl actually blushed a bit.

_'warlock and witch? how did they end up using such nicknames?'_

"Well, let's get going then. First off let's see how you look with this ensemble."

Ten minutes later, the man nicknamed 'warlock' was treating the staff like soldiers as he made her fiancée try on half the wardrobe of the shop, something she seemed to enjoy.

Or maybe she enjoyed joining her warlock in messing around with the staff and making them blush.

"That black ensemble is delicious." he commented as she caught herself blushing under another hidden meaning. The 'witch' herself was dressed in a black dress with long selves and black laces tinted with crimson colors and floating around as she turned on herself.

"Doesn't it remind you of Requiem in a way?" she said another oddity as she looked at herself in the mirror.

The man used the words as an excuse to stare intently at the girl, though Inoue found that he didn't really cared about having an excuse.

"The red parts on the black, indeed. We'll take this one too." He added the last part at Inoue attention, and she prepared herself to add yet another piece of clothe to the already quite dense pile. How did they find so much money for clothes was beyond her. "Now, shall we try those too?"

As she looked to where he pointed she felt an heavy headache incoming, the couple wouldn't have finished before at least one hour.

The young blue-haired Japanese resistance cursed one more the damn britanniens as a whole that were fucking up with their lives.

* * *

Oghi threw his cellphone away on the bed of fortune of their small resistance base, He had tried over thirty calls but none reached. Kallen hadn't answered, something that never happened except when Naoto died and she locked herself in her room. Out of worry he had tried to call the Stadtfeld mansion and was answered by Kallen biological mother who told him that she still hadn't come back since yesterday.

Something the mistress of the house, the britannien wife of Kallen's father, didn't take very well.

"Where is she now? Damn it."

He left his present comrades at the base and hoped to cool down his head a little as he went to see if Sugiyama had properly forced Tamaki to hide the stolen Knightmares somewhere than at the roof of their base.

"Kallen..."

* * *

Somewhere in a very distant place, the terrible and powerful emperor of the most powerful empire in the world was currently looking in disbelief as Anya, the knight of Six, was currently crying on his shoulders crying heavy tears and screaming something about how their son had grew up and how said son showed an ridiculously large knowledge in choosing girls clothing.

Confused, he wondered how he should tell her that her son had gunned down Clovis not a day ago.

And people wondered why he didn't like his children...


	6. Chapter Five : Lelouch and Girls

**AN : as clr2 kindly noticed in his review (which I am thankful for), the mask symphonia isn't on the database because through the scenario is done, most of the story isn't written properly. I was also very happy with the many reviews (and private messages) I received. A good motivation to write this chapter which was extremely fun for me to write and even read. I hope your'll enjoy reading it too.**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Five : When girls and doors are Lulu bane**

_I felt light, my everlasting existence seem like another when I compare it to what I am now._

_Really, I can't help but feel like a stupid little girl when I feel all this power within me._

_He is really an immortal on a totally different level from me._

_In centuries I couldn't find the secrets in unleashing the 'true' immortality, one where our bodies abilities are beyond the realms of humans._

_He found the secrets in mere weeks ! Even if it was still unperfect._

_It gave me the strength, to live on and to stop this mere survival, this awaiting of death._

_I changed, changed enough that even I could recognize it_

_I feel no longer like a mere observant of this world, not when I heard his burning passion,_

_not when I know his determination to fight till the end of time, until we both are no more._

_Now and for our eternity together, I am alive, I feel alive._

_You're my hope. _

* * *

C.C smiled at the briefly perplexed expression of the Pizza Hut delivery man as she opened the door dressed in a short black with lines of green with a matching top. The man coughed briefly to give himself a countenance.

"Ahem, the delivery is for a man's name, is that ok?"

"It's, after all pizza is one of our common passion." C.C answered with a smuggly smile, boring her yellow orbs into the young man.

Lelouch snickered as he heard C.C mess up with yet another person. He finished putting a black jacket over his white shirt and looked at himself in the mirror with a content smile.

"So Lelouch..." C.C began after checking briefly that Sayoko still hadn't came back from her errands. "Are you going to pull your little miracle with this britannien woman you framed?"

"Hardly." he replied simply "saving a britannien pureblood soldier wouldn't be especially a good way to present the birth of Zero."

C.C cooked her head to the side pondering.

"You see C.C, Villeta will never be publicly charged of Clovis's murder, I assume you already figured out why."

C.C sighed lovingly as Lelouch pulled yet another attempt to make her use her brains, ever since he beat Requiem he always let her find parts on her own.

"I don't really remember the people of this period, but I suppose the britannien army will want to avoid discredit, especially if this option is pushed by the current Sub-viceroy."

"Who is most likely still the zealous Jeremiah."

"And Villeta just happens to be one of his closest subordinate. Then he'll search for who could be the real culprit." C.C continued, it amazed her how Lelouch could always see multiple steeps ahead. But more than that, it was that when his lips were slightly upward on the right side, he was always correct without fail.

"The scenario could deviate as Jeremiah might be removed from his functions since the prime suspect is his subordinate. However that scenario is unlikely to happens."

C.C frowned, Lelouch manner to dance around the point might be entertaining at time but he had an habit to make simple things complicated. Lelouch turned toward the windows to grab his key and seeing she didn't answer he continued.

"The officers that left Clovis will suffer the same symptoms as Villeta, which will force them to let Jeremiah rule for the time being. Because they can't contest Villeta partial amnesia while theirs will be already treated as suspicious."

"So they've no choice but to support the sub-viceroy if he think that his subordinate is innocent. However that also mean that the viceroy can't charge them too much or they'll turn back on him."

"Creating a tense atmosphere were every side believe another to be part of a plot made to kill Clovis without being incriminated, and even if they charge at each others the chaos that'll result will only benefit me." Lelouch concluded smirking.

C.C cooked her head to the side as she opened one box of pizza while putting the other at her side for after. "However Jeremiah won't find the real culprit, what will he do then?"

"You could a least try to think about it." Lelouch commented as to what C.C shook her head as if saying 'too tiring'. Lelouch shrugged and answered simply before while finishing checking his calls. "He will make a scapegoat, so to calm down the masses and then he'll propose to settle things in intern with the others members of the army."

"You aren't eating?" C.C asked moving her chin toward the pile of pizza boxes.

"Not now I fear, I'll have to settle some things with Ashford first. Beside I don't see how you could be hungry when we ate breakfast at half past ten."

"You never knew famine Lelouch, that's the simple reason."

Lelouch shrugged his shoulders, unable to come with a good reply and waved to her as he left.

"I count on you to make an arrival at the proper time, like you always do."

C.C smiled wickedly, maybe letting Marianne come while she would head school could be fun... "I'm so going to enjoy it." she said clearly to herself, loud enough to be heard.

Listening intently at every sounds she could heard from C.C, as sound was the only sense she had through their link, Marianne tried to come up with idea to force her husband to send Anya to Japan before the witch and her son...

_"I'm so going to enjoy it."_

Marianne cursed the woman, since when was she able to block her out was beyond her but that sentence was surely meant for her.

C.C ate slowly her pizzas, eating her bite with loud moans of pleasures, taking her time while explaining how the hot tomato liquid spilling from the pizza felt good on her tongue and inside her throat.

The fact that she had just discretly allowed Marianne suffering voice to reach her without the woman knowing was an enormous plus to her pleasure.

* * *

When Lelouch passed by the Ashford main hall, his entry was noticed by the many students on their lunch break. The vice-president's profile had an aura fitting a tsunami. His black jean and jackpot contrasted with his white shirt in a young yet mature ensemble. His eyes burned from a will where usually boringness and coldness were present. The way he walked and the semi transparency of the shirt showed his perfect musculature.

And above all, the smile of the vice-president wore at the moment had never been seen by any of the present students. An almost arrogant smile mixed with an unusual hint of happiness.

"hem, Lelouch."

Lelouch fast pace didn't slow down as he turned his head toward the owner of the voice and saw one of this time teacher. Wearing a wry smile he approached the teacher while considering reviewing the names of his teachers from this time. Something he had completely forgotten.

"Do you need something teacher?"

The male teacher, who Lelouch wondered if it wasn't the English teacher looked at the vice-president of Ashford perplexed.

"Well, I won't comment your absence this morning since you hadn't classes with me but... where is your uniform?"

Lelouch laughed causing the teacher to stiffen before the unusual display of emotion, for the usual Lelouch was a nice boy but never heard laughing out loud.

"I fear my uniform is in such a sorry state that it can't be used anymore, and my replacements... well, can't be worn anymore." Lelouch answered amused, trying about how C.C had looked amused when he had tried his other uniforms that were all but too small for his grow up form. "I already commanded a new one so that won't be a problem for long, now if you may excuse me I've to caught the president before she start another of a show."

"Well, I suppose it can't be helped then..." the teacher mumbled as Lelouch was already meters away. Then he heard shrieks around him and saw a crowd of student girls following the vice-president.

Yes, this was why he hadn't tried to hold back the boy longer, every time something ecentric happened about him he would better storm off unless he wished to be hugged by his fan-club.

Being handsome AND mysterious had its disadvantages he concluded.

* * *

Lelouch himself looked with a feeling of nostalgia at the places he passed and the people around him, through he didn't allow himself to slow down as he searched for one person who had been a troublesome but loyal friend.

He felt a bit nervous the first moment he heard the crowd following him, a reflex from his old self who physical strength would have doomed if he was caught in such a tide. He silently thanked himself for having solved this most troublesome problem.

Oh yeah, if undercover he was asked why he worked out so much (which was technically false since using the Code wasn't really working out), he could say that it was to survive his fans.

Then someone got out of a classroom as he was quickly passing by, causing them to collide.

Survival reflex kicking him, Lelouch grabbed the boy with blue hair and moved him forward so that they wouldn't lose their balance and kept walking while still being conscious of the shy(?) but determinately approaching tide of girls.

"Lelouch? You're finally back?" The vice-president glanced quickly at his catch whom he recognized as his gambling friend Rivalz who looked at him with wide eyes. "What's with the clothes?"

"Yes, Yes, uniform trouble and now walk." Lelouch answered shortly while doing an head gesture toward the crowd of girls.

"Meh, that's your own fault Lelouch for coming in such attractive clothes." Rivalz complained as he speeded forward, for like the other males students he had quickly learned to avoid such unstoppable force. Though usually that kind of things happened because of Milly coming up with events where Lelouch was made to do... varied things.

Lelouch glanced at Rivalz who kept starring at him, probably the boy was wondering why his friend was suddenly sixteen centimeters taller than the last day and with a profile that really didn't match. Lelouch decided to ignore it, for it would complicate things far too much for his liking.

"Do you know where is the president? I need to speak to her as soon as possible."

"Well, this morning she went to see Nunnally who said that you had come back late and that..." Rivalz interrupted himself glancing at the girl behind then he whispered in Lelouch's ear. "She said that you brought a girl back with you."

"Oh yes.. hum..." Lelouch paused without stopping walking, what should he says to Rivalz?

Then a couple of dozen meters away he saw his physical education teacher whom surely he would get a lecture from.

_'8th method of running away from a difficult situation, alternative sixth. You better remember it witch.'_ he sent quickly as he closed on Rivalz's ear.

"You see that girl... well..." he started in a fake embarrassed low tone, his gear running at high speed about how far he should go with this.

"Yeah?" asked Rivalz also in a low tone.

"She is my..." Girlfriend wouldn't be enough to get the reaction he wanted, well you can't hold back when you need to make a miracle.

"YOUR FIANCÉE ?" Rivalz screamed jumping around in shock as he heard the last barely audible word of Lelouch.

"Damn you Rivalz." Lelouch mumbled while he had perfectly accomplished his plan.

Around them, all discussion had come to a stop, and the crowd following them ,even larger than before, was suddenly silent.

"WHAT?" the unanimous scream escaped the outraged mouths of the many present girls and something akind to killing intend teared its way through the corridor.

"I'm going to get you back for that Rivalz." Lelouch threatened, after that he turned toward the girls who were ready to jump on him and shrugged briefly with a smile.

And dashed with all his power through the lane, passing the educational teacher who stared dumbfounded at the scene.

Dozens of high-pitched screams followed after the running man, too wise to stay amidst a chaos he himself provoked.

Thanking his speed that couldn't compare to his old self, Lelouch pondered how long it would take for him to crush britannia if the resistance had the same determination as his fans.

_'hum...'_

He decided to accelerate, just in case.

* * *

Suzaku Kururugi felt relieved as he finally left the hospital where he had been transported after Lyold threw a fit about the Lancelot and Cecile used her authority to have him treated, as it was his right from the military rules when discrimination didn't kick in.

Then while he was resting he received a letter informing him that he had two days free like all honorary britannien in the army, or so the notice said.

Some kind of event had happened but the Japanese private didn't have the authority to know more.

Or maybe he had but he was 'accidentally' left out.

Suzaku sighed while walking through the streets of the britannien settlement. He would have to work much harder if he wanted to change how elevens were view by britanniens.

For now he was more concerned about Lelouch, when asked Cecile looked through the reports and thankfully didn't find what he dreaded. Even so there was still a chance that Lelouch and that girl ended up in trouble...

Whatever, he had to make sure he was fine. The problem was that he couldn't exactly ask people if they saw a supposedly deceased prince around. And finding his childhood friend in the town randomly wouldn't be simple.

Now if he recalled, Lelouch wore some kind of school uniform but it had been dark back then. Could he remember it well enough?

"Well, I'll suppose it's worth a try." he says as he prepared himself to act like a bullied soldier ordered to do chores by his superiors.

Though in his opinion, the pilot in that damned Sutherland was more dangerous than his superiors.

* * *

When Milly saw Lelouch coming at impressive in unusual clothes, she knew something was up.

When Lelouch caught her and carried her while telling her to run she was both embarrassed and confused by his actions.

And when a crowd of girls entered briefly her sight before Lelouch chose to hide in the student council building she told herself that it was just a normal day... if she didn't know better?

"My, Lelouch. You do look sexy in those clothes." she teased him before getting a clear look on him.

Then she got a clean shot on Lelouch body, as he still carried her in his arms while listening to the sounds outside.

It then became a rare moment of Lelouch sweat-dropping when he heard her moan like a girl of his persistent fanclub.

"I heard you saw Nunnally." he stated as he let go of her and carefully took some distance from the blonde.

"Yeah Lelouch, you know you worried Rivalz after you split like that. Just where have you been?" Milly asked while placing one hand on her head and looking at him longingly.

"What did Nunnally told you?"

"Oh, really not much, you ran into some person yesterday and were struck around Shinjuku for the majority of the day. How you make wonderful pizza and finally allowed Nunnally to taste this food which you treated before with disrespect."

"Is that all?" Lelouch asked, keeping his face calm as he looked at the blonde. He knew it was all when he caught her eyes shining from their dangerous lights, something even their very long separation (from his side at least) couldn't make him forget.

"And how you brought a girl with you..." Milly dropped the bomb while wearing a very smugly smile, proof that she was about to tease him endlessly.

"Indeed." Lelouch replied simply, keeping his as impassible as possible while clasping his hands together, his back resting on the wall of the room by the side of the door.

Milly made a surprised face at the lack of reaction of Lelouch, and was about to say more but Lelouch went on.

"that sleep with me."

and he dropped the bomb like it was about the weather. Milly froze in shock for a few seconds before the full meaning of the words hit her.

"Wait Lelouch, you're serious?"

"What is seriousness but the representation of oneself believing that what he thinks is the most important thing at the moment and believe it's the truth?"

"Lelouch." the president threatened softly while joining her hands together to take a deep breath, she needed another when Lelouch slowly nodded. "Is it sure? I mean if your identity is know, won't it cause trouble? Who is she exactly? What is your relation with her?"

Lelouch looked curiously at the woman, truly he mostly remember how she played around with him. her ability to become serious when it was needed wasn't exactly on the front of his memories.

"She is my..."

_BAM_

The door burst open pivoting on its hinges and crashing with full power... on the unfortunate immortal.

"Lelouch!" two feminines voices spoke in unison as Lelouch moaned in pain, he still wasn't as used as C.C in dealing with it.

"Shirley, I don't believe you'll make a positive impression on Lelouch by throwing door at him." Milly scolded half-amused and half-embarrassed at being interrupted while Lelouch and her spoke about sensible topics.

"Bu-bu-but president! L-Lu-lulu. He-he..." Shirley muttered with much effort.

"He?" encouraged Milly while she watched Lelouch staring at the door with a dreadful look before he turned to Shirley and made a complicated face.

"Fiancée!" Shirley screamed as the word broke her into sobbing. Milly eyes widened and she blinked a few times before turning to Lelouch with a surprised expression.

"So the girl we were speaking about is...?"

Lelouch pushed back the door to face them properly and was about to spoke when...

_BAM_

The door flung open once again and crashed for the second in the handsome features of the poor immortal man.

"GUYS !" Rivalz screamed as he entered the room in a hurry seeming very agitated.

"Rivalz..." Lelouch said threateningly before grabbing his friend and placing him under the door ark.

"Lelouch?" Rivalz asked as Lelouch put his hand on the side of the door and stepped back a bit.

_BAM_

Rivalz fell back as the poor door felt the abuses of the creatures as humans for the third time of the day.

"That's for just now and for your scream in the lane." Lelouch said coldly as he opened the door again, slowly this time.

"Ah...heu...hem..." Rivalz was stunned for a moment before his head cleared. "It isn't the time for that! Turn on the TV!"

Lelouch paused one second, then realized what this was probably about he walked quickly toward the television installed here under Milly rule on the new channel.

There it was, 'Highness Clovis horrible murder', written in large black letters and announced with tears by the commentator.

They said that the main suspect had been captured and was would be tried in two days. Lelouch looked wondering if the image of Suzaku would appear.

_"The suspect has been recognized to be an half-blood eleven who used her britannien look in order to approach his late highness Clovis, investigation are still ongoing and she is currently led to the main prison."_

Images of the suspect then appeared and Lelouch felt a sudden chill as he recognized with surprise his unmistakable Ace and friend from this time.

_'How in the Code did Kallen end up as the scapegoat ?'_


	7. Chapter Six : Lost Immortality

**AN : Again quite some reviews and mp, those are always welcome so don't hold back! There was a few questions in the review so I'll quickly answer them without spoiling too much, for those who don't want to read them (low spoil content), feel free to just skip to the chapter. For Lelouch's code, refer to 'The Demon King Requiem' which I remind my dear readers is the first of the two prequel, 'the Mask Symphonia' following it. About the 'price' mentioned in chapter 1 (I am surprised people still remember about it), it's spoiling material so you'll need some patience till A 'three letter name' come in the play. Lastly about the feeling at his neck mentioned a couple of chapter ago, I wanted to put it last chapter but the length of chapter beat me to it, no worry it's coming!**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Six : Lost Immortality**

_I slowly turned around toward the approaching form, preparing to scold whoever dared to enter this place._

_Only I and my brother only had the right to enter this place, for hidden there was the power to realize our dreams._

_Yet the approaching figure cared little for my concern it seemed._

_As it drew near I could discern its features, a sort of somber purple hide its face._

_The body was dressed in black and not a part of skin was visible,_

_around it (him?) floated deformed faces of death people silently screaming as they floating around him._

_A dark purple aura completely the unearthly ensemble._

_The form stopped a couple of meters away from me, I refused to step back, for there was no kind of spirit that would make me falter._

_Then a dark laughter escaped the mask, deep and happy._

_Announcing my torture..._

* * *

"Look like your plan is in jeopardy warlock?" C.C asked as Lelouch as he caught her sneaking in the school, highly unfair way in her opinion to prevent her from throwing a fit with his current fan-club. (he always had one no matter the time)

"It's surprising" Lelouch conceded. "but actually I couldn't dream for one better scapegoat. Look like no matter what Jeremiah end up helping me."

_'Are you gonna put a show again?'_ Lelouch blinked as her accomplice changed the method of communication and he quickly checked his surrounding for anyone suspicious.

_'Don't just use telepathy because you're tired, witch!'_

_'Just be a gentleman and pretend it's for discretion sake, you still need to learn Lelouch.' _Lelouch stiffened slightly in irritation as he lead her outside Ashford. _'Beside, we can't let your mother heard every of your discussion, can we?'_

Lelouch froze for a moment dumbfounded, before he walked again as if nothing had happened. Then he drew C.C closer to him so they walked almost face to face.

_'What kind of son am I to forget my own mother... even so why are you still letting her heard? You can prevent her right?'_

_'I am your accomplice Lelouch, I can make plan too, in case your forgot. It's much better if we can make sure she doesn't harm our plans, I'm sure having the Knight of Six out of the way would help.'_

_'That would be helpful but still, she can act as a spy in this situation.'_

_'That didn't make Charlounet move much the first time around.' _Her accomplice shivered slightly in disgust at the nickname.

_'by the way, "our plans" you said, can I believe you won't fool around this time?'_

C.C sighed and they walked silently for several minutes, Lelouch wondering if he shouldn't have gotten a taxi.

_'I don't want that future to happens, maybe it means that there is some humanity left in me.'_

Lelouch nodded gravely, so many reasons for them to do things. Even if at one moment they wished to just rest, they couldn't afford themselves this luxury for decades.

He waved the thought away.

_'Let's do it.' _he simply said.

_'together.'_ C.C completed silently.

* * *

Kallen had just been told that she would be put on trial in two days under the charge of assassinating a member of royalty, let alone terrorism and others petty things.

The man coming to tell her the news, Jeremiah Gottwald watched her curiously at her reaction, or rather her lack of reaction at hearing the news. She had been insulting them non-stop when she was lead to the main prison.

The redhead was silent, being caught had shocked her at first. Hence her burst of rightful rage, now hearing about that damn slaughterer demise was hardly was something that would make her sad even if she was blamed for it.

She didn't really cared about how her britannien family were doing either, let them fall down like her mother fell, into servants of weak minds.

And Clovis's murder wasn't surprising all things considered, that person calling himself 'Zero' was most likely behind it. That didn't really help her situation, but at least the man did his job and if she took the blame well...

Between being executed for terrorism or for assassinating a prince, in the end the difference was moot.

Then Kallen clenched her bound hands as she thought of Oghi and the other resistance members of their cell.

She prayed that they wouldn't try such a stupid as trying to save her, they would just be giving up their lives.

Sadly, knowing Oghi this scenario was highly likely to happens.

"Damn it." she muttered under her breath, if only her brother was still alive.

* * *

Lelouch ate silently as he observed C.C speak with his sister, the diner was a good quiet one. As much peaceful as one's could wish when the witch had some innocent soul to dare her spells upon.

Well, he couldn't really go too far in sheltering Nunnally anymore. If he used his Geass he could probably break through the emperor's Geass, Nunnally had proved before that his Geass wasn't as absolute as his.

Yes, the emperor's Geass had some fearful advantages like multiple usages, no limit duration and such. But with the proper stimulus it could be broken. Not that trying to break Nunnally geass right now was the best idea, it would be fairly troublesome is such a miracle happened just when Zero appeared.

After all, he had already planned when he would work onto giving his back her sight. For now he had to concentrate on the task at hand, in two days on evening would Kallen be lead to her trial. The short time created a few troubles but nothing that really hindered him. The most troublesome would be that one couldn't command and get a fully high technological suit overnight, fully customized with that. Lelouch would have to content with a more simple armor till his other suit was ready, in waiting he made sure the simpler replacement would have the proper look so that no-one would notice the swap in the two costumes.

That way it wouldn't look as if he was preparing things in a hurry, reducing the chances of him being found out.

He also wondered what to do exactly about C.C green hairs, making them visible on both the resistance and the school sides would be a deadly giveaway. Maybe he should look into some colorant lotion?

"Nii-sama?" his sister's voice interrupted his thoughts and he gently smiled as he asked her what it was. "Is it true that miss C.C is your fiancée?"

"..."

_'Lelouch, wake up.' _C.C recommended seeing the sudden complete interruption of the immortal.

_'DAMN! I forgot that Nunnally would heard about it!'_

_'Well, I don't mind but if you stay silent like this your sister will wonder what is wrong with you.'_

"Nii-sama?" Nunnally asked with concern. "Didn't you want me to know, you know..." she crossed nervously the knife and fork in her hands while speak in a feeble voice. "I can understand if you're at an age where you need a girl for..." she didn't dare to continue.

_'my my Lelouch, your sister is quite direct. I didn't though she was already that mature at that time.'_

"..." For a rare moment the genius future revolutionary was speechless, his mind processing at high speed in order to maintain coherent thoughts.

Then he calmed down and sighed to let the tension that had gathered in him slowly evaporate... and spiked up again when he saw Sayoko hiding behind the ajar door of the kitchen with a knife in her hand.

_'Look like we got in a troublesome misunderstanding somewhere.' _C.C commented dryly. Lelouch forced himself to appear calm, he wasn't sure what made the maid agitated but it most likely wasn't good news.

_'Did you said anything suspicious while I was still working on some nobles?'_

"Hum, nii-san?" Nunnally asked, getting more and more worried as time passed in silence.

_'Well...' _C.C sent in an innocent tone, as if only realizing it now. _'I might have mentioned Marianne at some point, nothing else though.'_

_'All I needed to know.'_

"To answer your question Nunnally, yes I do have that kind of relationship with C.C." he said in a gentle tone trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"So.. you're... lovers?" gentle Nunnally asked and Lelouch truly wondered if between his old self and his current sister he hadn't been the naive one.

"We are." he answered simply.

"That's nice, so I'll have a sister in law now." Did he imagine the concealed dark feeling in her voice? C.C snickered lightly.

"Yes, and I could tell you some good stories about Lelouch maybe?" she joked

"That would be great. But, nii-sama?" Now Lelouch was sure there was something wrong with the intonation of her last words. "Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend?"

Lelouch stared, fighting the urge to facepalm. Of course he hadn't told Nunnally since technically he meet C.C only yesterday. No wait, that was wrong, he had knew C.C before.

"Actually there were circumstances that threatened C.C's well-being." he began, glancing at Sayoko who retreated out of his vision range after their eyes met. "C.C, you may not remember, but she was indeed acquainted with our mother."

Nunnally made a sound of surprise while C.C eyed the warlock with an amused expression.

_'I don't need to lie when I can say the truth.'_ he commented smirking.

_'you just avoid to explain a LOT of the truth though.' _she added fighting the urge to laugh. Lelouch wisely choose not to answer.

"I see... then those circumstances you mentioned, are there relation with our mother..."

Lelouch tapped his finger on the table before answering.

"I can't say it's completely unrelated."

Lelouch glanced toward the kitchen, hopefully Sayoko would have calmed down now. The fact that C.C knew about their mother shouldn't be suspicious anymore.

"Now nii-sama, may I ask what you were doing lately? I heard you weren't in classes again. Did you go gambling once again?" his sister asked him in rapid succession. Though she wouldn't blame him for gambling since he did that to support both their lifestyles.

Lelouch gaze then got lost in the distance, as his mind wondered into the paths of the future.

"I am preparing something, a project I thought about long ago and on which I can finally seriously work on." He made his voice sound dreamy as he spoke his next words. "Maybe even I might be able to cure that too..."

Nunnally refrained from asking more precision, if it was so important to her brother she would learn things in time. For now she was happy to have another person in her family.

"Oh, I forgot to mention with all that." Lelouch spoke as the thought entered his mind. "I met someone yesterday, someone we both know very well."

"Who?" Nunnally asked with a genuine curiosity.

"Suzaku." Lelouch simply answered.

The rest of the evening was spent in rejoicing memories of their childhood, something which C.C listened smiling.

* * *

"You know Lelouch, once we recuperate your little ace you could use some relaxation." C.C said smugly while she leaned by her accomplice on the bed.

The man starred at the woman a few seconds, the fine black underwear left on her body left just enough to the imagination. He pondered a few seconds, then too smiled smugly.

"Now that you said that..." he said in a provocative tone, before grabbing her close to him.

"Oh, how bold of you warlock." the woman pushed herself forward, sending her close to crashing into her fellow immortal.

"I hope those walls are as soundproof as the constructor said." Lelouch said wryly while passing his right arm under her shoulder and grabbing it.

"Even if they don't, I'll make sure you're in no state to complain to him about it tomorrow." C.C said while moving Lelouch's other hand in the low parts of her back.

"I take the challenge, oh great witch!" he defied before exchanging their position and locking her between the bed and his body.

"Less words, more actions boy." C.C said while closing their mouths together and searching for his tongue.

Lelouch fully agreed to her sentence.

The bed disagreed, but he had no words in it and could only pray its would hold together.

* * *

The figure laughed darkly as V.V observed it with an ominous feeling. The distance between them shortened as the black form moved forward centimeters away from the immortal boy, almost stepping into his longs hairs.

"What are you?" V.V asked, refusing to let the dark form towering him in his grotesque humanoid costume.

"I didn't though I would met you so soon V.V. It has been a long time." the figure said half-amused and with a very well concealed hint of nervousness.

But V.V failed to see it, too focused to distinct its exact form as it was circled by those dead spirits, spirits passing around them yet never touching them.

"How do you like being mortal again, how arrogant ones?"

The immortal boy froze, his red eyes staring in shock at the mysterious sort of man.

"What did you do? What did you do with MY code?" screamed V.V, his words strengthened by his hate, through his short height didn't help to intimidate the dark form.

"Your code? Alas it's mine now, actually I wondered what would happens after we traveled through the essence of God."

The man, for V.V decided such a deep voice could only be masculine, was definitively playing with him by speaking in riddles.

"Enough! I care little for death spirits, Codes are for the living ones, not for things of your kind!" The man laughed mockingly at V.V's words.

"You seem to be misunderstanding V.V, your code was only borrowed, what make you think you were worthy of it?" V.V snickered with disdain.

"I mastered the Geass, this Code is the Code I gained, not some toy of yours."

"How foolish Vivian, you stole your Code by assassinating your contractor, copy C.C by using initials too and then present to be almighty? Your ego truly know no bonds."

V.V was temporally rendered speechless, staring at the man yet still refusing to take a step back, even if physical movements in the world of C didn't really meant anything.

"Who are you?" he asked, the question echoed within the seemingly empty space of this unnatural place. The figure paused for a few seconds, if it was looking at the immortal or not V.V couldn't say.

"You could say..." he laughed dark once again as if telling a good joke "that I am Requiem." The mask then closed on V.V, the immortal forehead touching the cold form for a brief second before he spoke again, not with his voice but through the power of the Code. The sounds echoing dozens and hundred of times in V.V's ears.

_'I am the living incarnation of your sins, ready to fill my thirst with your madness, your hate and your foolishness.'_

The form retreated letting no moment to V.V to spoke before it spread its arms (or wings?) and vanished in a cloud of shadow leaving with a last sentence.

_'I am going to enjoy meeting you again, oh my instrument.'_

* * *

As he left the World of C behind, Lelouch laughed darkly in his room, quietly so as to not wake C.C up, though she probably 'saw' the whole thing.

He had learned things too while being there with his mother's murderer, the most troublesome being the new of his code no longer being complete, thus it wouldn't ensure his immortality anymore.

However he had absolutely enjoying filling V.V with the many he mixed in the few truths.

Using the name of his ex-opponent Requiem and turning it into some kind of all-knowing monsters was thrilling too. He was going to use this persona again, till he broke V.V to pieces.

After all that boy was the root of his exile, the killer of his mother and the one who crippled Nunnally (let alone the blindness).

He drew C.C close ignoring the clock marking fourty-six past nine and fell back into an happy and peaceful sleep.


	8. Chapter Seven : Heard my name, World!

**AN : I was surprised while looking at the hit number that the Demon Requiem also got some popularity lately despite not having been updated for some time. I felt then compelled to update it and went to read it so as to make sure I didn't forgot any important fact.**

**Let's say I was dumbfounded when I found quite a high amount of wrong sentences, in almost every chapter which made the reading quite uncomfortable, as such I am considering taking some time to fix it. However since Back to Zero also seem to be going well I am not sure about how I should divide my efforts, thus I decided to open a poll which you can access to through my profile, the result is important as it'll decide how I split (or not) my efforts between the two currently published Code Geass stories.**

**That's about the trilogy, about BtZ I am happy that the story is picking up pace as our dear revolutionary finally make an appearance. Last, I've to make choices about skipping through some things or slowing the pace of the story, if you've a constructing comment about it (or just your opinion) feel free to tell me.**

**I planed to stop there the notes but I saw the new reviews and will answer the two questions asked by more than four people. (which even considering the mp is quite an amount). First off, both V.V and Lelouch lost their immortality due to their Codes being the same origin. There won't be too much room to precise in the story so I'll at least say that they still have enhanced regeneration abilities and eternal youth among others things but resurrection after complete death is impossible. About the second question, Requiem is someone present in "The Mask Symphonia" and Lelouch is using his name there, for more precision wait for the prequel to be published.**

**Remember to vote at the poll, and have a good reading.**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Seven : Heard my name, World!**

_I feel my heard beat faster, the adrenaline filling my body and my mind seeing new possibilities._

_No longer immortal, every act, every deception and every trick is full of risks._

_The human in me fear it, yet is submerged by the raging passion of my ideals._

_I call upon the messiah, the savior of the weak, this symbol that I created!_

_Outside I heard the crowd wondering before my arrival,_

_Outside are the soldiers of this nation I treat with contempt,_

_Outside is the person I will save,_

_and lastly, by my side is the one who is always by my side._

_Let's the world ascend into Chaos and revive from the ashes once again!_

_Heard my name Oh World! Once again you'll shake from my name!_

_I am... !_

* * *

Ried Diethard watched with a bored look as the procession entered the main street of the town.

"This is pathetic." he mumbled to himself, this stage was completely set up. From the suspect that was most than likely just a scapegoat to the britannien placed at the sides of the road already shouting insults to the supposed murderer of his highness Clovis. All this was just something to cool down the masses, a show he wouldn't have spend even one penny for if he didn't have to gather favor from the military.

_"Here they come, the suspect Kouzuki is escorted by Lord Jeremiah Gottwald to the tribunal where they trial will be conducted. We can hear the shouts of the citizens who are insulting the suspect and showing how much the prince was loved by his people."_

And indeed in the television that the whole Japan would be watching, britannien and elevens alike, Kallen Kouzuki was show restrained on a platform where despite showing trace of mistreatment and the collar she wore, had a dignified look. Her blue eyes staring with disdain at the britannien insulting her. Standing tall and proud she bored her stare into one of the camera on her way, as defying it.

"Is it guts, or resignation?" Diethard wondered interested. Sad that such a beautiful girl would be executed soon...

* * *

The members of the Japan Liberation Front or JLF for short watched the screen of the television as the procession progressed slowly.

"Another brave warrior who fell under britannia rule." the general Kyoshiro Tohdoh somberly commented as he rose his cup of sake in a salute to the half-blood resistant.

"Even being half-britannien doesn't protect an half-eleven huh..." one of the member commented.

"This really isn't the time to say that." Urabe scolded.

Tohdoh sighed, pitying their inability to save the girl.

Nagisa Chiba looked sadly at the procession, the only woman of the Four Holy Sword feeling some sense of empathy with the unfaltering girl on the screen.

In the end, the JLF couldn't take the risk of rescuing the girl, especially if the risk of her being a scapegoat existed.

* * *

In Ashford, the student council minus Lelouch had gathered and looked at the emission with varied comments.

"Such a young girl, she probably have the same age as us." commented Shirley a bit perplexed on the matter.

"I wonder where she was hidden all this time." say Milly offhandly while knowing it perfectly as she was visibly the only one who realized that Kallen Kouzaki attended Ashford under another name. Though if by some miracle the girl came back, it would need some great act to avoid the suspicions of her classmates.

'Not that she would ever be coming back seeing the charges she was under...'

"She looks nice too, what a waste." Rivalz complained as a Representative of the male race.

"But... she is eleven no? and she killed the prince." Nina accused in a weak voice.

"Half eleven, half britannien." simply said Milly, knowing better than to argue with the xenophobic girl.

* * *

Suzaku let his map of the town fall on his bag as he watched the television in the common room for honorary soldiers.

He stared silently as the procession went on, like the other eleven soldiers present with him.

_'killing bring only more killing.' _he thought.

* * *

"Kallen..." Oghi whispered as he looked at the procession from a distant building, a radio in his hand.

"Are you sure we can trust this guy Oghi?" asked one of his comrade.

Oghi sighed.

"He's giving us pretty much no risks." he paused one moment and spoke somberly. "and it's not like we can do anything either."

His comrades went silent, silently observing and guarding the three different points that the man naming himself Zero had told them to keep clear.

He had called them through the transmitter earlier, something meaning that he had been close enough from their base for the transmission to pass.

Oghi recalled far too well their conversation.

_"It looks like something interesting is up." _he had pronounced in greeting. _"What do you think of it, Oghi Kaname?"_

Oghi had been surprised at the man knowing his name, he had recognized but he had to make it sure back then.

"You're... Zero, right?"

_"Indeed, life has a pleasant way to put our goals together."_

"What do you want?"

_"You still haven't answered my question, I hoped you would have some more manner." _'Zero' had said sarcastically.

"you speak of Kallen, isn't it?"

_"Yes."_

"She isn't the culprit, she was with us at the time._"_ Oghi said nervously.

_"You could get to the point and say that I did it, we would both gain some time."_

"What do you want?" he repeated again with more success.

_"Many things, but for now I'll ask you just one question. Do you want to save her?"_

Oghi had frozen at those words, he and his comrades exchanged looks. They were all suspicious, even so it was a bridge of hope throw toward them, could they afford to burn it?

"We do."

_"And you're going to try to save her or die in the attempt, even if there is no chance that you can pull it off."_

"Why do you think that?" Oghi asked, through he knew that him and a large part of his follow members of resistance would most likely end up doing just that.

The fact that Kallen would tell them not to only fueled their motivation.

_"Will you give me your lives then?"_ Zero had asked in all seriousness. Oghi took a deep breath.

"What do you mean?" he asked his voice almost shaking.

_"I can save her, I can do it without any of you losing your lives. You've even almost nothing to do for it."_

Zero finally spoke the words he feared yet hoped to heard and a both tension and relief invaded Oghi and the rebels.

"And in exchange you want us to join you." Oghi deduced.

_"Indeed."_

"Can we believe you while we haven't even seen you?" Sugiyama asked, having drew closer so as to be heard.

_"You've to, through I already know your leader's personal answer on the matter."_

"What make you think I'll accept Zero?" asked Oghi, knowing it was most probably the truth.

_"You can't let the sister die, not when her brother entrusted her to you."_

And then Oghi knew he was already done for.

"I'm in."

The rest of the cell followed, both with a frail hope and the fear of being cruelly betrayed at the last moment.

* * *

And finally, a white large vehicle appeared fifty meters away from the procession and slowly approaching it.

_"A vehicle is approaching, it's going to block the escort path. And, oh!, it's his highness Clovis's personal transport. Who is daring such an act?" _the commentator spoke sounding outraged

"Let's see who is this suicidal person." said Jeremiah with a derisive smile, readying himself for the show that was bound to happens.

* * *

_'Once again he let us pass.'_

Lelouch silently nodded though there was no way his accomplice could see that. Truly fighting against human has a thrill that 'those things' didn't give him.

Then, he checked that the detonator with multiple command was in his concealed chest pocket and forced his unearthly creation in his hand to stay stable.

"Once again, let's entrust this world into the hands of Chaos." he challenged.

* * *

The vehicle stopped close from the escort and Jeremiah made his Knightmare take a step forward, challenging the other party.

"Show yourself!"

As if answering, the flag adorned onto the white royal transport were consumed in a blast of fire, a passing wind sent the ashes flying in a whirl of of small red blazing and illuminating a dark form standing on the top forward part of the vehicles, no longer hidden by the consumed representation of Britannia's symbol.

The form, an human fully dressed in a dark suit outlined with somber steel lines wore a a mask covering his whole head and with a purple oval glass instead of the face. His neck was covered too by a somber crimson scarf.

A large black cloak surrounded his body and the high part of it surrounded his head in black surmounted by golden line. He hold something in his right hand

His left hand made the cloak flew around him, revealing his strong build. Then he spoke in a powerful voice-

**"I am... Zero!"**

-amplified by his Geass of Absolute Rule echoed multiple times through the street, ringing into each person ears, impossible to ignore.

_"Wh-Who is this person? He call himself Zero and is blocking the way of the escort!"_

_'Who? Why did you came?'_ Kallen cringed internaly. _'you can't escape, Zero!'_

"Enough Zero, you're already a death man!" Jeremiah shouted as he shoot in the air. Three Knightmares surrounding the white vehicle from all sides but Jeremiah's.

Zero shook his head slowly, as is confronted to the senseless fury of a child.

"First, let's remove that mask of your." Jeremiah said smirking as he pointed his gun at the masked man.

"Hum." Zero snickered, then he placed his hand on his mask as if going to remove it.

Then he threw his left hand up and snapped his finger.

As C.C pressed a switch from the driver cab, the walls of the white bloc behind Zero fell apart, revealing a strange capsule with cables surrounding the metallic sphere.

Jeremiah realized what its was in the instant and lowered his gun in shock, would Villeta be present too she would recognize as well the unknown machine.

"He retrieved it?" Jeremiah whispered in disbelief.

_"What? What is it? It looks like some kind of machine but its function is unknown. Could it be dangerous?"_

The speaker voice was febrile as he watched the scene unfold slowly before him, nor the britannien placed around for throwing accusation at Clovis's murderer nor the passer-by had the idea to step back.

"What is he doing?" wondered Diethard as he faced the refusal of his cameraman to get closer and finally rushed back outside himself.

"You!" Jeremiah shout as he pointed once again his gun at Zero who scoffed at his attempt.

"Are you going to try to shoot me? This would bear regrettable consequence." Zero gestured toward the sphere with a movement of his head and subtly weakened the infusion of his Geass in his voice, as it was aggravating the sub-viceroy tension tenfold.

Jeremiah face distorted in rage as he thought about the consequence of the madman before him releasing poison gas in such a crowded place.

"What do you want?" he finally asked while trying to sound calm.

"An exchange, this thing in exchange for Karen Kouzuki." He said, accenting the japanese sound of her first name.

"Ridiculous!" Jeremiah answered sternly "This woman is charged with prince Clovis's assassination. I cannot exchange him."

"No, you're wrong again Jeremiah." Zero said as he moved back is cloak around his body. "She isn't guilty, for..." Zero paused an instant, saw a journalist vaguely familiar pass the knightmares and take a close shot at him with his camera.

Zero turned slowly his head toward the camera as he spoke. "The one killed Clovis..." he then amplified his voice with a much stronger dose of his Geass. "It's me!" the last words echoed strongly in every one ear, refusing all depreciation and marking the words as absolute truth.

A moment of silence settled in as every watching was mometarily stunned, no one even able to say a comment under the formidable pressure Zero crushed them under.

And Diethard smiled an exclamation of joy.

The commentator finally found his voice back. _"Im-Impressive, this masked man auto-proclaimed Zero, erm... visibly male, admitted being the true culpable!"_

"He's going too far." Oghi's radio shook in his hand as he heard him.

Tohdog watched petrified as the scene unfolded, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"This man is mad!" Jeremiah shout while sweat fell from his head. "You'll pay for your masquerade!" he screamed as he rose his gun once again toward Zero.

"I am sure your subordinate is very interested in all this, but that aside, are you sure, Orange?" The white car then slowly advanced forward, toward the procession.

A tense silence fell upon the military as they stared at each others then at Jeremiah while the public wondered what that 'Orange' was about.

"No matter what, faults always have proof, Orange. No matter who it concerns." Zero said quietly yet a visible threat in his voice. Enjoying as the confusion of Jeremiah, without a doubt thinking about Villeta while the rest of the military would accuse both Villeta and him to be part of the plot against the prince, plot that would maybe be named Orange?

"Now if you understand..." Zero said in a deep voice, not bothering to open the side of his mask for the glass couldn't possibly withstand his highly evolved Geass. "Let us leave with that girl." his last words were quiet, yet the order was unstoppable.

Jeremiah stiffened one moment as the cursed power teared the defenses of his mind apart and with frightening ease invaded it.

"I understand." he finally said. "Hand him this girl." he said at Kallen's guards. The redhead mouth opened in shock and she stared in disbelief as the guard freed her from her bind, the collar preventing her to speak falling at her feet.

"What is going on?" Major Haddock screamed as he exited the knightmare in which they had obliged the pureblood to give them. "This wasn't..."

"Major Haddock," Jeremiah interrupted and stared threatening at the Major. "It's an order!"

_"From where we're, it seems like that the suspect Kouzuki is being freed!"_

Shouts of disbelief and incomprehension flew in the air as the crowd protested at the liberation of the suspected murderer.

Zero left the height of the vehicle and went to meet Kallen as the redhead approaching with a dignified expression though her eyes betrayed her amazement.

"Zero..." she said confused.

"Later, now that we got the princess, it's time for the magicians to leave." Zero said as he stood before her.

C.C had left the car as well, and dressed in a dark green suit, with strange lines of fluorescent green were on her face and distorted any proper image of her face that the camera would get.

She didn't spoke and as soon as Zero was by her side, he took out the detonator from his pocket and pressed on it.

"We shall meet again." he said as a goodbye, his voice amplified by the cursed power encrusting the certitude of his return into those who heard and listened.

A colored purple gaze escape the sphere on the vehicle and a wind of panic blew through the crowd. The three people rushed toward the end of the bridge-street that leaded to lower level of the city.

Major haddock tried to block their way and fired their way before Jeremiah stopped him with his knightmare.

The major was about to say something when Zero raised a dark vertical thing in his right hand that has been hidden by his cloak the whole time.

A dark wand, with the end of it taking a strange form like a bird pierced by a sword, more impressive was that the wand didn't seem to be made of metal but of a darkly purple consistent smoke.

Zero waved the wand in the air, then jumped along with the two girls.

Jeremiah and the Major looked frozen at nothing. For the bullets of the Knightmare were nowhere to be seen nor to be heard.

_'You didn't need to do that'_ C.C amusedly scolded him.

_'I didn't like the idea of coming without using it even once.'_ Zero answered with an happy laugh while Kallen screamed due to the falling.

They fell into a net, right into a car. As soon as he saw Kallen onboard Oghi pushed on the acceleration and the already awake engine roared as the groups speed up away from the panic still ongoing above.

"So much fear for harmless gas." Zero commented mockingly.


	9. Chapter Eight : Incoming Encounters

**AN : Look like I'll be focusing on that story for the moment, quite a lot of things in this chapter which I personally very much enjoyed. I also answered the call for more messing with Marianne, no V.V this time sorry folks but don't worry he's coming back soon. (Requiem where are youuu?) This chapter was also a pain at some points, I kept using the first person in the chamber scene... and had to fix it every two minutes.**

**Otherwise it seems that last chapter was a bit too close to canon, sorry but I actually couldn't pull a better event for Zero's introduction. There are however some important differences you may or may not have noticed. **

**No question so I can keep this short, just remember to vote at the poll and leave reviews which are my brainfood. I had many more scenes to add this chapter, but that was actually already enough for three chapter.**

**Have a good reading.**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Eight : Incoming Encounters**

_I waited lonely in my cell, my elevated position had faded in a blink._

_They didn't believe that I was still loyal to britannia, those corrupted fools._

_The worst is, I can't even blame major Haddock for speaking against me._

_I DID stop him from going after Zero, I remember doing it._

_But I don't remember why, nor why did I let the girl go._

_I remember my actions yet I can't seem to find the reason,_

_Only suppositions run through my mind but I forcefully reject them._

_I am loyal to my oath, before and beyond everything, as such Zero's words have no meaning._

_Villeta is still under suspicions, our cell facing each others in an attempt to make us speak probably._

_Yet, I could only tell Villeta the story and speak my confusion._

_I wonder why that man, Zero, can't escape my mind..._

* * *

Zero watched the redhead reunion with the others resistants from a place a bit higher. The ruined opera truly felt a fitting place for his masked form.

The woman by her side, whose ensemble felt a bit creepy looked impassible at the group, staying just behind the man.

"Thank you Zero." Oghi spoke while bowing in recognition. Zero nodded silently.

"What now?" whispered one of the rebel.

"We'll join you then..." Oghi said, much to the surprise of Kallen and she turned to her follow freedom fighters as they preferred to call themselves.

"But you wonder what my goal is." said Zero amusingly, no trace of his Geass strengthening his voice anymore.

"Yes, I am not sure that..."

"That I merely want to free Japan." Zero continued Oghi sentence again as the cell's leader hesitated once a again to finish a sentence. It was surprising how the man was reading him like an open book.

"Yeah, what do you want to do exactly? Beside saving distressed resistants I mean?" Tamaki asked, his usual recklessness kept in check as he couldn't deny how Zero had saved one of their comrade.

"Before that, are you really the one who took down Clovis?" Kallen asked though it sounded more like a praise than an accusation, Zero chuckled.

"Indeed, I am the one who killed the man, for more reasons that you could believe." He waved his hand. "But let's the death rest, for there is still a lot to do in this world."

He paused and looked at the sky where stars could be seen, the night devoid of cloud. Then the mask lowered toward them, behind the mask Kallen could imagine his eyes staring at them. When he spoke his voice was deep and slow.

"I want to change those useless acts of terrorism that are merely an annoyance to Britannia, this can't and will never free the country."

"But what else can we do?" Sugiyama asked a frown on his face. "Speaking to them won't do anything, they won't even listen to us!"

"That's why you need more than terrorism." Zero's voice rose in intensity, radiating a strange charisma. "That's why I'm starting a war against britannia. Implicating the citizens, taking hostages or killing without a care are both wrong and pointless."

**"Military, politic, economical." **Zero said with a renewed strength, as creating the future with his words. "I'll strike Britannia from all sides and crush that corrupted empire, and continue till this unfair world is but a fading memory."

"Crush Britannia?" Kallen said in amazement.

The rebels looked uncertain, for this man was without a doubt serious. Oghi decided to ask one last question.

"Then tell me, will you free Japan?"

"Of course Oghi," then he continued with something like a thread directed at britannia. "sooner that you can hope for."

"Why won't you show us your face then?" Yoshida asked still a bit doubtful. Zero chuckled.

"My identity, as well as my powers are things I reveal only to those in who I've absolute truth. For with those two, one can change the fate of an entire nation." He said with complete certainty, even so...

"Even if you managed to save Kallen, can't we attribute it to luck?" Sugiyama asked, though the resistance in his was fading under a growing hesitation.

"I've no need to prove myself further yet, you shall see by your own eyes what I'm truly capable of." Then the girl that had been silent approaching the rebels and handed Oghi an object that they recognized as a cellphone.

Zero voice suddenly ringed in the air as challenging.

"In two days I'll call you again, know that by answering my summon you'll pledge your loyalty to me until my goals are fulfilled." He paused briefly before concluding. "Will you dare to join me or will you stay as a courageous but unachieving terrorism cell? The choice is your and only, embrace my cause or be crushed under britannia."

The bells of the town started to rung as Zero spoke two final words before leaving, his cloak floating around him in a dwarfing effect.

"One day."

And then he was gone, the girl (or woman?) that had handed Oghi the phone had also disappeared before they even noticed.

The rebels silently looked at each others.

* * *

Lelouch woke up quietly in his bed, a witch at his side, the sun by the windows, a clock showing they still had ten minutes and the corner of the bed made slightly higher by the unmatchable housekeeping skills of C.C

Now would truly be quite a bad timing for any soldier to come inspect his house, if he hadn't Geass Lelouch wondered if he would have took things a little more seriously on the matter.

Well, it wasn't like any britannien soldier would bust through his doo...

_BAM_

"Ah... sorry, I didn't the door was so easy to open." a certain Japanese soldier excused himself in greeting.

Lelouch looked at him silent for a few seconds, so he had indeed survived and was (most than likely) the Lancelot's pilot.

"Good morning Suzaku... it seems that bullet didn't take you down." Lelouch smiled warmly at his friend while speaking in an ambiguous gentle voice.

"He looks better in civil clothes too." a certain feminine voice came from the bed. her accomplice nodded approvingly at Suzaku's brow pants and gray shirt. Lelouch then looked up from Suzaku's clothes to his face, who was a magnificient picture of temporal shock. Suzaku pointed timidly the woman who was nude under the covers of the bed and stared at his friend unsure of the situation, he almost spoke when Lelouch interrupted him, his eyes catching the presence of a certain maid behind the Japanese soldier.

"Something the matter Sayoko?" he asked her still smiling warmly. The maid instantly hide the shinai in her hand behind her and stood up from her ready-to-jump position. Impassible she moved her chin toward the other eleven while staring attentively at him.

"Suzaku is a friend, you can't use him for trying to exorcise me though." The maid instantly blushed and stepped back a bit, her eyes leaving Suzaku fell on the couple on the bed.

Lelouch felt C.C body, as her two arms were grabbing his left, shaking as she hold back her laughter, he too had a hard time to control himself from not laughing.

"Oh Suzaku, I believe you already met C.C or Kate Cybele, though we didn't exactly had time for conversation back then." the Japanese adolescent nodded stiffly as I passed a finger over my mouth.

"Yeah." he nodded slowly, looking like he was finally calming down. "is she your...?"

"My girlfriend, my lover, my fiancée and maybe soon : Madame Lamperouge." Suzaku stared (he was doing that a lot lately it seemed) till he finally gave up trying to understand and simply shrugged.

At that moment Lelouch am sure he saw Sayoko madly typing on some cellphone, he would have to investigate on it later.

"A pleasure to meet you Suzaku, I heard a lot about you from Lelouch." C.C said coyly while pulling the cover up as she sit on the bed by Lelouch's side.

"Don't scare him C.C, I don't know about now but woman and him were two worlds separated by a long and large bridge." Suzaku wavered. "On that note Suzaku, did you see Nunnally yet?" His face shone suddenly like a beacon.

"Not yet, but I'll be happy to see her again." he said honestly.

"Then..."

* * *

Somewhere far, far away, a certain knight of the Round, Gino Weinberg watched in disbelief at the messy room of his follow knight of the Round, Anya.

Messy was being an strong understatement, if anya had used her customized knightmare, the Reaper to start a battlefield in her room.

Who would give the worried Gino Weinberg the key to this enigma?

* * *

The emperor Charles zi Britannia could have answered the knight of Round, if he wasn't currently struggling for his life against the iron grip of her furious wife occuping the body of the usually quiet knight of Round.

Seeing as she was currently rambling on about a witch being in the practical part of a relationship with their son, he wondered if C.C wanted to collect the Lamperouge family into her lover's collection.

Being strangled DID give him weird ideas...

"Would you... mind... releasing me... Marianne?" He felt relief as the woman finally loosened her grip on his neck. He should better than to underestimate the person who skewed her way through all his opponents on his way to the throne.

Maybe he should let V.V deal with Marianne while telling her it's Anya, it would be probably better for the royal couple.

"Calm down Marianne, why do you care that much? Once Ragnarok is done all their actions won't matter. Killing Clovis or being together is.. of... little..."

Don't contradict a woman, the emperor wondered why he didn't listen to this quote from himself. Marianne drolling in rage into the body of that seemingly frail but powerful girl somehow didn't settle well with him.

"Charles..." she began threateningly and he feared what was to come, when Marianne said his name in such a tone it was always something bad... "I. Am. Going. To. Area11. NOW!"

No, he wouldn't try to contradict twice a day the woman, not if he didn't want to become the first emperor ever killed by a fiveteen and a half years old girl.

"Fine." he said to the air as Marianne was already speeding away from the world of C. "On that note where is V.V gone to?" he idly wondered as he looked around for the immortal boy.

* * *

_'It looks like your mother is coming Lelouch.'_

_'So soon?'_

_'I think she saw a good part of our last session, then how you were saving another girls from the bad britannien and then how you casually mentioned a eight hours long thing to your best friend and your maid.'_

_'Well, at least I'll be able to ask her to give us her blessings.'_ Lelouch answered his accomplice as he took another cup of tea, smiling widely at his sister and his (supposedly) best friend.

_'Seeing the torrent of insults she sent me till I blocked her, I don't think she'll like the idea.' _He sent while placing his empty cup on the table. Even if this was a redone world, seeing Nunnally happiness at reuniting with Suzaku didn't feel bad, quite the opposite he admitted, his mind then turning on how he would play his cards with his Japanese friend and (unknowingly) rival.

"It's time for school I believe." the telepathic contractor said quietly to the joyous adolescents, Lelouch mentally cursed as felt old while looking at their insouciance. Nunnally pouted but complied as Sayoko came to help her.

"You aren't particularly present in school lately nii-san." Lelouch shrugged while chuckling guiltily.

"Is that true Lelouch?" Suzaku said as he looked reproachingly at his friend.

"Sorry, I make him busy." said a feminine voice full of understatements.

"Is...that... so..." Suzaku uttered while blushing as he recalled their earlier meeting.

"Women Suzaku, they are drying up my time. All my actions those last days seem to be for or about women." Lelouch sighed while considering how the misused comment was accurante.

_'We're drying up your time huh?'_

_'Taking care of Nunnaly, escaping from my fan club, saving a redhead from being a scapegoat while I did frame another into taking the blame... and obliviously you being the most demanding.'_

"Now Suzaku, would you mind having a chat with me?"

"Good." Lelouch said as he lead Suzaku outside for a walk. "C.C, don't forget the meeting with the council."

"Yeah." C.C replied lazily.

* * *

"Unacceptable, it's way too soon to support this man, lady Kaguya!" roared one of the six house member.

Kaguya, the second most powerful influence in their six houses of Kyoto plus having their leader the youngest, sighed. In this small place like a dojo where all leaders had their faces hidden behind curtains, tensions were always quick to arise, except when britannia were in trouble.

In other words, the tension was always present.

"Enough." said the calm voice of an old man yet still bearing power. "Your concerns are dully noted, as well as your... enthusiasm..." He tapped lightly his finger as if daring anyone to interrupt him. "This Zero can turn out either way, for now we'll see if he comes again. Then we'll decide."

"Fine" Kaguya admitted her defeat. "Then let's get on with the more urgent issue."

"One week... is it?" the members of the six Houses whispered.

* * *

C.C took a walk outside Ashford, her accomplice wanted to try to make his friend join him once again. Would he fail again?

She sighed as she stroked her green hairs and made them float around. At least this time she could wander pretty freely around, Clovis's private men who participated in his little project were either death or had other things to worry than their escaped little subjects. Brendan would be gone soon too, she wondered what Lelouch planned to make with the man.

That reminded her that she would have to look through the reports and give Lelouch a summary.

It was those times she regretted a bit the days where she spent all her days lazily before television while eating pizzas.

However now, she wouldn't feel content doing it, especially since Lelouch found out the secrets of body enhancement with the Code.

While she was lost in thoughts, someone screamed at her a warning. Instantly her centuries old polished reflexes kicked in and she caught a flurry mass falling toward her-

_boum_

-and sent it over her shoulder weakly, cautious of a possible attacker.

What greeted her eyes was a mass of pink struggling to get on its feet while moaning in little pain.

"ah-tatatata." a feminine voice emerged from the mass that was, C.C deduced, a girl. "That hurt."

"You fine?" C.C asked politely, after glancing at an opened window from which a too short rope made of sheets hanged lazily. Seriously the girl had at least fell two floors after the end of the 'rope', who could be that reckless?

"Yeah, I think so." the girl turned her face toward C.C whose eyes widened.

Truly, the pink mass should have already warned her of the girl's identity.

_'Now now, that's an interesting development.'_ she sent to her warlock.

"Hello." she greeted the britannien princess.

"Hi." Euphemia li Britannia uncertain.


	10. Chapter Nine : Modeling the actors

**AN : *wipe out the 1k long author notes and turn on short mode.***

**First, I finished exams giving me more time. Second I reread some parts of the story and saw that I had some fixing to do. Third, Kate is indeed an alias of C.C. Fourth, Suzaku used his soldier ID to enter Ashford. Five, Lelouch has 'only' one Geass. Six, Kallen back to school? Maybe. Seven, Lelouch uber-powerful? That's because it's a sequel after R1,R2,tDKR and tMS. Thus LOT of things happened, even so it seems the weak points weren't pointed out clearly enough yet.**

**And eight, this chapter was r-e-a-l-l-y horrible to get done correctly. *turn off short mode***

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Nine : Modeling the actors**

_They always said that hate could burn out easily_

_That this feeling vanish once you've won, once you love someone._

_I oppose this, for my own hate never faltered._

_I won, I loved, still..._

_This throbbing feeling is still here getting stronger._

_I hate those worlds of injustice, no matter when._

_So... once again..._

_I'll crush this world!_

_-Zero-_

* * *

Lelouch walked calmly to the terasse of his habitation, the wooden place was bathed in the early sunlight. He took one of the three wooden seat at the end and gestured to Suzaku to take one as well.

A moment of silence settled as they observed each others. Lelouch's mind wandered through his memories, evoking the contrast between the ancient Knight of Seven serving Britannia and the young boy that was before him.

Was it the same person that pointed his gun at him on that fatal day where the Black Rebellion had failed? Was it only the fault of his Geass or...?

"You haven't changed." He finally said, oddly the Suzaku who had been switching between opposing and serving him and the one before him didn't seem so different.

"You have changed." He simply answered and he simply nodded.

Lelouch regretted having no tea on their table, missing the drink that helped keeping his hands busy.

"I'm glad to see you well, I feared you didn't survive... our last meeting."

"Luck was on my side, I was worried you wouldn't have escaped safely."

"The Devil was on my side." Lelouch answered still gently, no irony in his tone. Suzaku blinked at him confused but Lelouch merely looked back at him, his eyes calmly looking at him.

"You've really changed" He finally said "that kind of tone is something you usually only use for Nunnally."

"And I am a bit less prone to lose my head, especially when it's about girls." Suzaku smiled embarrassedly while Lelouch's smile, the teasing one he knew from childhood, appeared on his face.

But Lelouch's remark reminded him of a worrying thing. Lelouch suddenly chuckled and Suzaku blinked questioningly.

"Your expressions haven't changed, are you maybe... worried?"

Lelouch's amused smile putted Suzaku at ease, truly being with Lelouch, with his friend, felt just... right.

* * *

The humans never ceased to find absurdities that left C.C dubvious. As is stood, seeing a britannien princess mew-ing with a black cat wasn't something she had seen as of yet.

And then the girl bite her tongue during some long sentence about whatever the odd sounds had meant.

"mahh..."

"Did any of the sounds you said just now had any sense?" C.C asked while thinking at how would the pink-haired girl's actions would have been perceived in the Middle-Age.

More combustible for the winter...

"Well, not really." the girl admitted

"What is the point then?" C.C asked questioningly.

"It's fun!" the girl answered while clapping her hands, making the cat run away to the girl's sadness "Meoww..." For an expression of longing it was original.

C.C looked around, feeling the sudden need to put cat ears on this being who had been wrongly incarnated as an human.

"Is something wrong Kate?" the meowing girl asked as she stared at her companion with her deep blue eyes.

"You don't seem very concerned about your pursuers." C.C commented as she approached the girl and helped her up.

"Well... to be truthful..." Euphemia said while looking away embarrassed. "Those aren't exactly pursuers."

"I see" C.C said while running her right hand over Euphemia's cheek "Liar." When Euphemia realized what C.C was doing, the woman had already approached and swiftly had kissed her cheek.

"MEOOWWWW?" was all the girl could utter.

"Good kitty, good kitty." C.C said terribly amused as she brushed Euphemia head with her left hand like petting a cat.

"Kate!" Euphemia said blushing vividly while embarrassedly glancing toward the people around them.

"Liars must be 'punished' my dear Euphie, it's a handy way to do it to your boyfriend." C.C said smuggly while still petting the pink haired girl.

"Meowwwww" moaned Euphemia as her blush deepened, as if that was possible.

* * *

"I didn't get it." Suzaku honestly said, his palm joined together while he leaned toward Lelouch from his seat. Lelouch sighed.

"Suzaku, you really h-a-v-e-n-t changed." Lelouch said with a hint of annoyance.

The eleven shrugged. "Well, I do get that miss... Cybele... is your... (a long pause) girlfriend. But you met her only in Shinjuku no?"

"Yes, Suzaku..." Lelouch took a deep breath, just what was complicated in his story. "She was restrained by my late brother for some... experimentations..."

"Then, You mean his highness Clovis was doing human experimentation?"

"Yes." Lelouch answered dryly. Sure he could have avoided mentioning it, but if he was too vague Suzaku might mistake her for a criminal.

He was already walking on a tight line there, however...

"From what little I know, it involved cloning" that was a lie but Suzaku didn't knew it. "It seems there is also two or three people resembling her enough for passing as twins, and at least one of them escaped."

"Clones..." Suzaku said sceptically, however for him Lelouch had an habit of always being correct so... "If you say so... but why do you say another 'kate' escaped?"

"Because she was with my savior." Suzaku eyes sparkled with interest.

"So you were saved by someone from those soldiers?"

"I escaped them once but they caught up to me and then he took them out." Lelouch put a hand on his chin and looked up to the ceiling as pondering on something. "It's ironic, he both saved and killed a britannien prince in one day."

"HUH?"

"What? You still hadn't figured it out?" Lelouch said, shrugging at Suzaku most unrecommended talents to link pieces together. "That man really spend all his time saving people."

Suzaku was speechless.

* * *

"So it's your last day of vacations?"

"I wasn't exactly on vacations, more like studying. But from tomorrow onwards I'll have to do a busy job. I probably won't have the time to enjoy things like this anymore."

"I see." C.C simply commented, she remembered that this girl had some high standing. It had to do with Viceroy, but if her memories were correct the Viceroy was this one's sister.

Britannia really had too many pseudo-useful position for her to guess what was Euphemia's exact position.

"What about you cat, herm... Kate?" C.C rolled her eyes, did her accomplice thought of her as a cat when thinking of her alias?

"I am both studying and setting up an enterprise with my boyfriend, it's a lot of work but it's fulfilling."

"That sound like something big." Euphemia commented uncertain.

"You can't even begin to imagine." C.C answered, the girl really couldn't imagine what the two were doing.

"I wonder if I'll be able to make changes too..."

"What do you mean Euphie?" C.C asked using the fake name the girl had given her.

"Well... I may don't look like it so much, but I'll be in a position of power if only theoretically. So... I really want to help this country to be better and I pray that everyone can be happy but... I don't know..." C.C put a tentative hand on the frail girl's shoulder.

"It isn't easy?"

"I think a lot of people won't share so easily my viewpoints... It'll be hard."

"Indeed, if you're idealistic then it'll be difficult. But at least if you've some power then at least you can make them listen your words, not just ignore you." C.C fidgeted her free hand pondering on what she should say. "Being a ruler without being over-dominant and ruthless is hard and is an heavy burden that few can and are willing to carry. If no, then there wouldn't be so much people suffering around the world."

"Yes, but if I don't do it, then nothing will change."

"Indeed" C.C nodded slowly "you can't just hope that someone will create miracles for you. It takes great talents but also a great will to change things." She patted the girl's shoulder gently.

"Do you have that Kate?" Euphemia asked with her blue eyes locked on her golden ones.

"Not me" C.C almost whispered "I can only follow him." Euphemia noted the dreaming tone of her voice, intriguing her.

"Who? Your boyfriend?" C.C laughed.

"Ahah, indeed. He really is a ruler by essence, even if he was far too arrogant."

"Is he really such a great man?"

Euphemia was visibly torn between the Romanticism of things and a certain realism that made her wonder if the woman wasn't just blinded by love.

"From all points, yes. He had defaults and still have some, but a lot of things happened." C.C starred in the blue eyes of Euphemia, unable to stop her feelings from flowing out. "Our lives haven't been a path of roses, a lot of sad things happened for both of us. Love isn't something that came between us easily, it may sound odd but it's probably better that way. Because we both know the beautiful and the ugly sides of each others."

C.C then went quiet for a few moments that Euphemia didn't dare to interrupt. Then the woman finally spoke again.

"You can't hesitate Euphemia, if you're going to do it, then you must make your choices. If you don't have like me someone to follow, then you'll have to be the one to lead. It isn't something you can chose, it's something you chose to do."

The princess nodded slowly, submerged by the woman's gentle yet serious intonations.

Too late only, would she realize that Kate had called her by her true name.

* * *

"I pretty much got it." Suzaku finally said.

'That's a relief!' Lelouch thought, mentally cursing his friend slow mind. Good thing he mostly said truth and half truths... otherwise he wouldn't remember what he told him when he had to repeat!

"Just Lelouch, your reasons for taking care of her... herm..."

"I like her, don't deny that please." Not that he would after finding them together in bed, naked with that. "From what I know, not much people should be after her for now. I will still try to keep under the radar, I fear someone resembling her will soon hit the top wanted list."

"I am not too sure about all that, but you're the strategist after all." Suzaku paused and crossed his hands together as an expression of deep wonder appeared on his face, drawing Lelouch attention. "I really didn't think you were the kind of man to put a girl in your bed in two mere days."

Lelouch let out an horrified expression but found himself at lost. He couldn't exactly explain to Suzaku that he knew C.C for roughly one century of his existence, could he?

'Wait a minute...'

"Actually I knew her even before you."

"Huh?" A perplexed Suzaku uttered.

"She was present at my mother court." Lelouch said in a tone that he tried to make calm while fixing his gaze on again on the ceiling.

A moment of silence passed, broken only when Lelouch looked down surprised by the absence of reaction. Suzaku shook himself and leaned toward him a bit more, risking to fall from his chair.

"Then, she know you're a prince?"

"Heh?" A tripping was heard as a surprised expression came from a new voice

Lelouch reacted faster than Suzaku, jumping over the border and saw a familiar face.

Lelouch feel his blood run cold as he saw the redhead highly embarrassed face.

"Shirley." He commented simply.

"Sorry, I..." She excused herself, her eyes switching without stop between the two.

"Suzaku, I suggest you take your leave for today. I'll contact you later."

Suzaku looked hesitant for a moment, looking at his friend whose eyes were fixed on the girl, how come every time he met Lelouch he did a stupid thing?

"Yeah, that would be better."

Shirley was silent.

* * *

Euphemia had wanted to see the district of Shinjuku but she had kept quiet because she didn't want to drag Kate in a place that was potentially dangerous.

However they passed by an indicator showing shinjuku, taking a decision Euphemia said that she had to go there.

C.C didn't look surprised. Euphemia was going to say goodbye to her but...

"Follow then." C.C had taken the lead toward the ghetto, walking at a quick pace so that Euphemia had no room to complain.

Internally the immortal mumbled in annoyance. She hadn't tried to convince the girl not to go, the look in her eyes when she said that she going there wasn't something you could change easily.

It was very similar to Lelouch's. Still things were getting too complicated for her taste, hopefully they wouldn't run into any future Black Knight...

"This really is different from the town."

"Actually we're officially still in the town, it's really just showing the difference in treatment between britannien and non-britannien." C.C corrected her coldly.

"Hmm..." Euphemia mumbled lost in thoughts as they slowly entered the ghetto.

Before a tall building C.C stopped and took Euphemia's hand.

"Come."

Without explanation the woman led the girl through the building, taking the stairs to go higher and higher. They soon met a locked door.

C.C merely lent a strike on the lock, breaking the old lock with ease and she entered the roof, Euphemia following her curiously.

"Look Euphie." The woman said while spreading her arms above her toward the ghetto. "This is their lives, their existence and where they met their end." the pink haired girl did as she was told and was surprised by the sight.

It wasn't the badly maintained buildings that first shocked her, nor the people passing around discretely.

No, it was the remnant of the battle that impressed her, the buildings poor made parody of skyscrapers. Many of them had fallen during the earthquake caused by the rebels, many roads had disappeared blocked by tons of concrete, cement and rocks. A few metallic remnant of Knightmares were dismantled by a dozens of elevens for whatever they could find.

Water from pierced ducts leaked into the dirty grounds, with a low debit and only in the few places that had running water.

Among the somber ambiance of the morning, hundred of corpses were drying up in the Sun.

"How do you find the sight?" C.C asked as Euphemia stared in disbelief at the scene.

"This... just what is this...?"

"The remnant of the battle, though Zero managed to stop the slaughter and save many elevens, he didn't arrive before hundred if not thousands of people were gunned down by the army."

"But all those people dead, they don't try to clear the places nor bury the corpses?" The girl said gesturing in disbelief at a fallen building.

"They can't, elevens don't have access to the material to remove all this. As for the corpses there are simply too many. Beside people dying that way isn't a rare occurrence in this place."

C.C's voice bore a certain disgust and anger, despite how used she was to those things. It truly was a proof of how much her accomplice affected her.

"Isn't there any rescue team to help?" Euphemia said after a while. C.C approached her swiftly, catching her and letting their bodies touch as her voice echoed in Euphemia's ear with somber intonations.

"Rescue team? Why would they do that? They came to get their fellow soldiers, gunning down a few passing elevens while they were at it. After all, for britannien aren't elevens... expendable? Why waste valuables resources on relieving people who aren't even worth calling humans."

"Kate..." Euphemia whispered, frightened at her companion behavior and the reality she described. "This is wrong."

"No Euphie, as long as the strong it's right, then it's." The immortal voice seemed almost like a dark chant, terrible whisper yet sensual and bewitching. "It's and will stay true, until the slaves no longer accept, until britannia fell sloppy unable to keep their control over the ever growing hate of the ones they use."

"No!"

Euphemia shout and moved away from the woman's hold. "If it become such a thing, it'll end bad for everyone! We have ways to avoid that, there has to be..."

Unexpectedly C.C smiled, albeit a bit sadly. "Maybe yes, maybe the discrimination between britannien and elevens could be reduced, under the right people."

"Right, if we unite then we can..."

"I fear not" C.C interrupted her "It's already too late for that." the immortal said while staring at the ghetto.

"What do you mean?" the woman slowly turned her gaze toward the girl, letting her words fall one per one from her mouth.

"In less than one year, this immense chaos will happens. Once it begin then neither side will back out until one is down, this is not prediction, this is the future."

Euphemia looked at the woman before her with something akin to fascination, the sun was well up in the sky but it there was something, something in the woman that was both frightening and terribly bewitching. Still Euphemia stubbornness had to overcome it.

"Even so, I'll try to get them together, even if what you say is true. I'll still try."

The Gray Witch then smiled, her expression changing into a gentler one, leaving the dark words she just said vanish into the air.

"I look forward to your actions then. Let's go, we shouldn't dwell here for too long."

_'You'll try little one. But he would say that he would do it, not just try.'_

C.C gently took Euphemia's arm into her own arm as they left the place, her mind wondering how it would end for the gentle girl this time.

She knew very well how reality could unfair in many occasions...

"Kate, next time you've got to present me your boyfriend." Euphemia surprised by saying those words. "I am really curious to see what person someone like you chose."

C.C smiled, knowing that such a situation if it happened would be very amusing to watch.

"Sure, I am looking forward to it."

_really forward to it_

* * *

** AN : I don't usually write notes at the end of chapter, but really this chapter was a pain, I rewrote each scene (I insist on "each") at least 3 three times. This is the main reason which this chapter took so long to be published. I am also trying to speed up a bit the plot pace so that we can arrive at Narita before chapter thirty...**

**lastly, reviews would be REALLY appreciated for this chapter, thank for you reading.**


	11. Chapter Ten : Final preparations

**AN : *Happy with the reviews* I feel that the second scene of this chapter would have been better to conclude the chapter, but then it would have been too short. Still I love the feeling I got when writing it, a terrible shadow slowly spreading. I skipped the Emperor's speech due to the length of the chapter and the fact it would be very cannon, tell me if you prefer me to add it.**

**Enjoy the reading, the inferno is coming!**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Ten : Final preparations**

_I regret a bit to do that to them, to those people who genuinely love me_

_I know just how easily things can become a tragedy when Geass is involved._

_If only 'she'd hadn't surprised things best left unknown..._

_Then I wouldn't have done it, hoping that it would still be fine._

_So please, after I do this, don't get involved with all this..._

* * *

"So Euphemia is already here." Lelouch commented as the two accomplice sat on in the salon, waiting for the pizzas C.C commanded to be delivered.

"She might hinder your plans once again." C.C pointed out, still ambiguous on how much she took part in the planning.

"Not really" Lelouch waved his hand to dismiss the idea "I've the counter measure already planned, I only need the right timing."

"I bet your share of pizzas that it has to do with Clovis."

"I refuse that bet. That aside I'll need your help." C.C raised an eyebrow at Lelouch words. "Shirley found out that I'm a prince, thank to a certain childhood friend."

"Do you intend to wipe out her memory once again? It didn't ended up too well last time."

Lelouch's tongue ticked in an expression of annoyance. "I am just gonna make it so she can't tell a soul about it, as well as the rest of the student council."

"I'm surprised you're even thinking of using Geass on your friends." C.C pointed out the unusual behavior that Lelouch currently displayed, truly in her opinion her accomplice was the kind to avoid using the cursed power on anyone he held dear... at least until things got out of hand.

"It's necessary, with you by Zero's side the odd of them discovering Zero's identity get much higher. It isn't like I can use the lie I told Suzaku.

"Clones huh? You really looked deep for that one."

"It should work just fine and it'll need to work for some possible plans later. For now I have to make sure the students councils, especially Shirley, doesn't get involved in Zero's business."

C.C chuckled. "I see now why you want to present me to them, a perfect occasion."

"Indeed, now let's get some other serious business done." Lelouch said just before they got interrupted by a ring from the door. Impatiently Lelouch moved quickly and retrieved the pizzas from the deliverer to the great pleasure of his accomplice. After putting one of the three box of pizza by C.C's side he continued on. "I gathered what the effects of my Geass were."

"Did you?" C.C asked as she began to happily took bite of the ever pleasant dish.

"I was worried about the effect of my lost of immortality over my Geass." He paused a moment, just long enough to check that he had the full attention of the witch. "Nothing major seems changed, the main difference is that I can't use my Geass to turn into what you call the 'God of Madness', for it probably would be very bad for my health.

He took a small bite of pizza before continuing, his eyes quickling going over a small bloc-notes written in a coded language.

"My geass, which I called Absolute rule, still allow me to make anything in this world obey my will. The usual however is that somehow the order is about destruction, a command to save someone cannot directly work."

"A cursed power indeed." C.C commented with disgust, thinking about how much pain the Geass had brought to both of them. Lelouch continued as uninterrupted.

"Multiple usage still work, knowing that using it over and over for something against the target will's will destroy his mind to an exponential degree. The orders are normally not permanent although it can be turned in a close state, no much changes there as it still require multiple use and thus mostly destroy the target's mind."

"I suppose you still become a madman if you overuse it, especially without me."

Lelouch gravely nodded. "It seems so, you act as a limiter for my power, probably because you're mostly its source."

"And since without Geass you're much easier to kill, I'll stay by your side at all times." Lelouch frowned "That is not negociable warlock. Don't tell me you can take of yourself, you've been so reckless since you've become immortal.

"Fine" Lelouch conceded "but don't think I haven't seen you take that bite on the THIRD pizza."

"That's just a little detail Lelouch." C.C said as she started an absurd parody of a battle for the last pizza with her warlock.

* * *

Major Haddock signed tiredly on yet another page of paperwork. The new viceroy wouldn't arrive till a few more days, as the area she was fighting in still needed her presence to wrap up things. Thankfully a couple of her aides would arrive in two days and he could at least push all the mountain of paperwork into them.

There was the problem of dealing with the purist factions too, two of their leaders were still in confinement. Their fate rested on the future viceroy mercy, in other words their hope to get out of their predicament unscathed was thin.

Then there was also the increase in terrorism attacks, after Zero's appearance the attacks frequency had spiked. Eleven attacks in a week. The JLF (Japanese Liberation Front) even launched an attack on a britannien military base... and managed to destroy over fifteen knightmares and does notable destruction in a blitz raid.

And this afternoon the emperor would make a declaration for the funeral of the late viceroy. Sighing the major decided that he had done enough paperwork for the morning and could take a pause until dinner.

He left his office and looked at the passing people, his steps leading him to the confinement area as the idea of his ex-superior being there once again bothered him. He passed a cell in which he saw a bald and fat man, the general Bartley Aspirus. The man had been arrested while escorting the prince's coffin by Jeremiah the man also fell of grace. The role of the general in all this was still unclear and he didn't explain anything, seeming really down.

He left the man and moved forward to see Gottwald, he had already enough difficulty to keep the country together. He was sure the viceroy's aides would manage to get something out of him with more success than them.

"Hello Jeremiah." He greeted quietly as a part of him felt a sense of empathy with the fallen margrave. A living proof of how fast something so high placed could fall all the way down.

The man looked at him with a curious gaze, said nothing but acknowledged his presence with a nod. At some point he thought he would lose it but the man had settled into a calm silence, answering questions with a detachment proving he wasn't really listening. The presence of his ex-subordinate in the cell facing him probably had helped him keeping himself together. Whether Haddock had done it on purpose he wasn't even sure of it himself.

"You seem surprisingly calm." he commented without a shred of malice.

"There is nothing I can really do by getting agitated. I prefer to search what happened back then." Indeed, even now that Haddock was speaking with him, Jeremiah gaze looked somewhere far away, in his own memory. "And no, I didn't do it because of Villeta, if that's what you also wanted to ask."

"Also? What do you mean?" Of course Jeremiah hadn't do it for her, the man believed firmly that she had done nothing. He wouldn't have taken so much risk when it would most likely only aggravate the charges.

"Kewell did, I fear he'll do something reckless soon." Well, it was understandable for the current leader of the purist faction to question Jeremiah. However the major would need to have a few words with the guards who let him see his ex-superior. He shouldn't have been allowed there.

"I'll see about it, anyway in five days at most the new viceroy should be there."

"If it's still that person, I am not sure she'll believe my story better than any of you..." There was a hint of defeat in Jeremiah's words. There was something off in hid tone.

"Is something bothering you Jeremiah?" Haddock asked, they hadn't been really friends but there was some sense of empathy between them.

"A ghost..."

How dark was his tone, in the somber place Haddock could almost feel the chill going through the man's spine.

_PAN!_

A sound of gunshot echoed in the air, freezing all present people in place. Haddock turned his head toward where the gunshot had been fired and upon seeing nothing started to run in its direction.

"Traitor!" He heard a scream of furor as four shoots followed the first one, fired by a sole weapon.

He finally saw a person standing before a cell he passed by earlier, a gun in hand as he insulted another time the person inside the cell. The man heard the major arrive and turned his head toward him, his eyes crying in what was likely rage. The major didn't recognize the man but from his uniform he was a well ranked officer, and if he was right this cell was of...

...General Bartley, drowing in his own blood as his eyes becoming more and more unfocused by the seconds reflected something indefinable. The fat man was already as good as death, no medical aide would save him in time. The major quickly reported his gaze toward the other man starring at him for one mere instant, letting Haddock see his face distorted by both madness and anger. The man didn't let him observe further as he dashed off toward the exit, Haddock quickly following after him as he pulled his own gun.

"Stop!"

A chase started as the alarm was started, likely by the guards on the camera room who had probably seen the whole scene. The man moved with impressive speed, no hesitation in his move nor care for the people he sent to the ground as he ran. His uniform confusing the soldiers in the building and making them hesitate to stop him, till Haddock voice ordered them to capture him.

"But that's officer Bretan?"

"Who?" Haddock barked to the one who had spoken as they continued to chase the man to higher level of the building, the lower paths being blocked by soldiers.

"His highness's Clovis personal officer!"

Now Major Haddock liked the situation even more, what knew the man to make him to such a reckless thing?

"Whatever, stop him!"

They finally cornered the man as he jumped into the backyard to escape them, falling between more soldiers who blocked all possibilities.

There was a tense silence as Bretan rapidly observed the half hundred people surrounding, his hand clenching tighter on his gun in which Haddock had deducted remained only one bullet.

"Officier Bretan, stop this foolishness and submit so that you can explain yourself." Haddock commanded him seeing he had no escape.

Bretan sent him a cold and terrible gaze, his eyes filled with determination. Haddock couldn't believe what then happened.

The man pushed his gun under his chin, screaming two simples words at the top of his lungs-

"FOR BRITANNIA!"

_PAN!_

-and he fired, right in his own head.

A dreadful silence fell over the area as Major Haddock was overwhelmed with a terrible feeling of wrongness.

* * *

"I present you Kate Cybele, my fiancée."

Lelouch was obliviously in a good mood when he spoke, an almost frightening grin adorned his features despite his voice evoked more pride than anything else.

The student council, gathered here as Milly per Lelouch advice had called them here, had various reactions.

Milly was the most excited, almost jumping on the new girl and turning around Lelouch's fiancée with an amused and almost predatory gaze.

Rivalz starred a few lasting seconds at the green haired young girl that had entered behind Lelouch, then he raised his thump up at Lelouch and smiled broadly to his friend.

Nina starred curiously at the green haired girl, admiring the sensual black ensemble that matched Lelouch's attire. (his school uniform still unusable)

Finally Shirley was pouting while looking at the couple with an anxious gaze, her mind still full of her last encounter with Lelouch.

"So this is the lucky lady? hum..." Milly approached the immortal and embraced her from behind, her hands detailing the frame surprisingly well built of the woman. "So, how did you charm our Ice Prince?"

"Now now president, don't call me that."

"Oh no, she is right" C.C said as she caught one of Milly's hand "he's very resistant to my spells, it took a lot of persistence to bewitch him." and passed Milly's hand behind her as she faced the president girl and closed on her, making their body touch as she blew the last words in her ears.

Amazingly, Milly drolled. Rivalz whistled at the scene and Nina moved her arm between her legs.

"Seems like we'll have one more member to have fun." Milly said happily while C.C continued to play around with her, making her legs falter.

"About that." Lelouch intervened while watching his fiancée pass a finger between the large chest of the blonde "I am considering resigning from my position as vice-president." he finished as calmly as he could.

A moment of stupor hit the place as all present people, save for C.C, starred in disbelief at the vice-president declaration.

"You can't be serious Lelouch?" Milly asked, unconsciously pushing away C.C who moved a bit back, starring at her warlock curiously.

"Is it because of your fiancée?" Rivalz questioned, bringing out the only visible reason to Lelouch's words.

Shirley and Nina looked silently at the raven haired boy whose gaze passed calmly to each member of the student council.

"A bit, but no, that is not the main reason. The first main reason is that I've... 'family' issues to deal with." He said insisting on the word family and looking at both Shirley and Milly who were most likely to understand the hidden meaning. "The second reason is that I'll be working on an enterprise alongside with Kate. It'll probably take a lot of time and I don't believe I'll be able to do properly my job as a vice-president."

"An enterprise? What kind?" Rivalz asked, wondering if Lelouch was going to set up a Casino to use more freely his talents at Chess.

"It involves a lot of things, including medicals facilities."

"I see." Milly said quietly, it was clear that Lelouch was hinting about his sister in that one. "We won't be able to dissuade you then." She sighed in defeat, no matter what she had no chance when going against something Lelouch was doing for Nunnally's sake.

"Indeed, I know it'll trouble all of you but it's something which I unfortunately cannot delay."

"What about your studies?" Shirley finally spoke, knowing how Lelouch cared little of the matter. And indeed he waved away the matter.

"I am confident that I can deal with the exams fairly easily. Beside I can always come back to studies, but for what I plan to do the timing is a must."

He paused dramatically while looking deeply at each one of them. Then he took a deep, heavy breath before speaking in an odd voice.

"**You'll accept it and don't risk your safety in my affairs.**"

There was a pause, as the power channeled both by the voice and the eyes affected the present people, encrusting the order in their minds.

"Well then, since our Ice Prince grew up, what event should we organize this time?"

Unsurprisingly the president used the events of the day once again as a pretext for more event. Lelouch tiredly sighed as he observed the discussion continue without the students remembering the order he had just given.

But there was way to break the order he had given, it would weaken with time... he could only hope things would go well.

"Oh, we'll be late for Clovis funeral if we stay here!" Rivalz pointed out.

As they prepared themselves to leave, C.C approached Lelouch and touched his hand with her owns, in silent approval.

"Onward, it's the only way to go." he simply commented as he lightly pressured his accomplice's hand in thank.

* * *

"Wouah!" Exclamations of awe were happily shout by Oghi's group as their new leader showed them a very large vehicle with blue as dominant color.

"A veritable mobile base."

"That's something else from our old base."

"How did you get it?" Oghi asked.

"I asked a Noble that should chose better hobbies, then I erased the strings."

Then The mysterious man named Zero opened the entry door of the vehicle and invited to go inside, silently letting them visit and exult at the interior. The vehicle had three floors and roughly half of the vehicle could be used as a storage for roughly twenty Knightmares. In the living quarters there was a sort of salon with banquette in which Zero sit waiting for them to calm down.

"That girl isn't with you?" Kallen hesitantly asked after she sat close yet with a certain distance from Zero. The masked man who still showed no intention of removing his mask silently gestured toward the entry.

The girl was here too, in strange clothes that seemed a mix of a robe and martial attire with dominant colors of green and black. Her face was still adorned with the green sort of green slightly fluorescent lines that she wore during Kallen's rescue. She silently nodded in greeting before standing at the opposite of Zero, not bothering to take a seat.

Oghi and the others took a place around the tablein which Zero threw some documents, each feeling at slight unease of being between the two masked faces.

"So Zero, what are we going to do?" The ex-leader asked glancing at the documents before him featuring maps.

"Two things for now. First, those maps show probably best escapes routes on the different ghettos around the town. I want you to check if they're usable, Saitaima in priority."

"Why that?" Oghi asked in confusion, what had escaping to do with rebellion? "things like Shinjuku don't happens everyday."

"There is a high probability that the coming replacement for the viceroy is going to recreate Shinjuku situation."

Exclamation of shocks echoed through the room, until Zero slapped his hand on the table to obtain the silence. "This is a better-than-sorry measure, you can warn others people if you want for it wouldn't hurt in case it happens. As for the second thing..." Zero fingers tapped lightly on the table "Let's say that while your performance in using Knightmares were rather good giving the situation, there is plenty of room for progress."

There was an embarrassed silence as the rebels all save Kallen and Oghi looked away elsewhere, they all remembered doing some unorthodox things with their Knightmares.

"I made sure no one would bother coming in this place for the following weeks, since most of the Knightmares from last time were left behind I 'borrowed' two dozens from the military. Please take care of them."

In the tone in which Zero spoke it seemed like a simple thing, but actually Knightmares weren't easy to steal. The way they got some at Shinjuku was really an immense fault from the military officers of britannia. Still that their new leader managed to get over twenty Knightmares proved that at the very least, he wasn't a joker.

The black man stood up and prepared himself to leave. "For today get your stuff, make yourself at home there and take a look at the knightmares. Tomorrow I'll distribute the role, I hope you will not disappoint me."

* * *

"Sayoko, you heard my conversation with Suzaku, didn't you?" Lelouch asked as he entered the kitchen in which the maid was doing the dishes after dinner.

She paused and faced him then bowed.

"I did, I am sorry for being indiscreet."

"It's fine, it means that you should realize that things are going to get serious around here." He closed the door so as to make sure his sister didn't heard, which made the ninja-maid send him a sharp gaze.

"What is it master?"

"I am wrapping up the last thing that could go wrong, before the storm hit the country."

Lelouch's smile at the moment was very wicked, after that he would be free to start the war.

The grand Chaos was coming, he would bring it without fail.


	12. Chapter Eleven : Ghosts of destruction

**AN : not much to say, on the beta point the thing is that my updates are really irregular and unless someone is willing to do it. I'll most likely wait until the story is complete or near completion, we're nowhere there yet.**

**Beware, this chapter has some angst. It also has a lot of answers for those who read well.**

**I hope you'll enjoy it, have a good reading.**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Eleven : Ghosts of destruction**

_The fight has begun, there shall be no rest._

_I open the ball on all sides, letting unease spread._

_The target is the army, our goal is the Goddess._

_Fear, terror, I shall crush their will._

_Ten of thousands dead spirits howl withing my body ready for Chaos_

_Zero is here!_

* * *

Jeremiah meditated in his cell, his legs crossed before him and his hands joined together as he let his mind wander into nothingness. No matter how much he slept lately he seemed to be always tired.

It was only mental he knew that, but he couldn't manage to find energy for anything, the fact that even if he had the energy he would still be struck here probably played too.

"Jeremiah Gottwald." A masculine voice called to him and before he opened his eyes, he saw that ghost again.

The boy holding a girl in his arms, two britannien walking through the hellish place that was a battlefield.

And then he thought he saw her, the ghost of the one he adored yet had failed to protect. Those two britannien he had seen only from far away and yet, they resembled them...

The young male child who alone without support stood for him and his sister, not willing to let anyone touch his sister as he took the flight for the very country Jeremiah was in.

And her the girl whose closed eyes and unwilling legs, there was a resemblance with the girl on the ghetto, the closed eyes and her legs that rested powerless as she was hold by the other boy.

Jeremiah had called, he ran after them with a blank mind. He knew that wasn't them but still, still he couldn't ignore the resemblance and just left them be, for he would have never left the empress's children alone in such a place.

"Gottwald." The voice called again with a slight hint of impatience.

His eyes wandered on the man's face before him as his mind slowly drifted out of his memories.

"Darlton." he recognized the man mechanically, one of the two most loyal people to his highness Cornelia.

"Her higness Cornelia wish to see you."

"I see." Jeremiah said with a disabused smile remembering Cornelia too had been close to his empress. He looked at Villeta as Darlton was cautiously opening his cell, two guards with him. The woman looked at the scene intensely and caught his gaze. He nodded slowly to her, he would try to help her of course as she would try too to help him. In that situation were all seemed to have abandoned them, they were each other only support.

"This way." He complied silently and followed the man, the two guards closing his cell behind him before going after them. He noticed a sort of unease at the posture of his guardiens, Darlton however thought seeming concerned about something didn't looked as much nervous as them.

Jeremiah stopped, the two guards surprised collided with him and almost send him to the floor. Darlton turned back to see what was happening and upon seeing Jeremiah perplexed gaze he turned his gaze at the adjacent cell. The margrave had paled.

"General Bartley was killed in his cell."

"In here?" Jeremiah asked with incredulity, his eyes staring at the bloody stern bed.

"It seems you aren't the only officer whose conduct isn't clear." Darlton said sharply.

"Seems so." Jeremiah replied absently, his mind somewhere else as they continued toward the exit of the confinement area. The man was beginning to thing he was losing his mind, if he already hadn't.

After all, why else would he see 'her' laying in this pool of blood?

* * *

The doorbell rang and Lelouch looked up from the documents Bredan had given him before the britannien officer was sent on his suicide mission. This early in the day it wasn't another pizza delivery, he rose from his seat glancing at C.C who had gone back into the bed to sleep after having taken breakfast with him and Nunnally.

He moved quickly through the apartment, denying the possiblity that it was the school. For he had geassed all teachers made so that no matter how long or many times Lelouch would be absent, there would be no problem with the school. It was unlikely they would break the order, for there was little reason for any of the teacher to gather enough will to break free from its hold.

He glanced at the still active radio, he didn't wish any important thing and ignored it upon hearing only classical music.

Carefully, he checked by the eye of the door who could be the visitor.

_'C.C! wake up!'_

Those pink hairs, that small frame...

Anya Earlstreim, the knight of Six and ,on as side note, housing his mother's soul stood before the door with a face that not too cordial.

A week to come here, she had been relatively fast as it was unlikely she got an order to go to Japan.

He opened the door, fairly certain that his mother wouldn't jump to kill him... not yet at least.

"I hope this isn't for a confession." He said a little coldly, acting as if he didn't know his mother was in control.

Amazingly the woman eyes widened upon seeing him, for a long moment she merely detailed him from head to toe with an amazed look.

Lelouch stood silently, unsure of how to deal with the girl's he knew was his mother at the moment. Her reaction was rather particular...

"Darling, who is here?" asked a voice sounding too innocent for it to be real.

"Well..."

C.C entered the hall and came by his side, wearing only underwear and one of his T-shirt. Sensually she stood on her toe and embraced her arms around Lelouch, looking above his shoulder at the visitor.

"Hello dear, what bring you there?" she asked sweetly. Lelouch then remembered from who he inherited his deadly gaze.

Maybe he wasn't as good with girls as he told Suzaku, though the situation was all but normal.

"C.C, it has been such a long time." The girl said her tone as glacial as ice.

"Not that long, I am not sure whether you know my fiancé."

The girl stepped in, forcefully pushing Lelouch, and thus C.C, inside the apartment.

"Your what?"

"My fiancé, we're getting married soon after all."

Lelouch thought he looked calm was really beginning to feel at unease, he didn't like the odd feeling of being sandwiched between his lover and his mother, the latter keeping a small distance from their bodies.

"Ma-ma-ma-married?"

The geass user oddly wondered if the saliva falling from his mother's mouth would stain the parquet. C.C continued in a pleased voice in appearance only not noticing the girl's strange behavior.

"Of course, he even presented me to his sister as such. It's only a matter of months."

Lelouch was pushed aside by C.C at the same moment at which Anya jumped onto the witch and he was throw away as the two girls rolled on the floor while something unexpected happened.

Though he had mastered the usage of Geass, Lelouch looked surprised as seemingly C.C power, or was it his mother, went out of control and the two girls embraced themselves in a sudden burst of pain.

Then Lelouch felt it too, proving just how much one couldn't think about every possibilities.

Ten of thousands dark spirits went mad within the four present minds.

* * *

The world became a blur, the limit between two worlds vanishing as an unstoppable wave of abominations poured out of the contact point.

Blinded, Anya's conscience was rudely awaken as she felt immaterial _things_ avidly grabbing her body, ethereal hands pushing forward to grab something and filling her with a nauseous warmth.

Her hearing came back, mixed screams of pain, joy, anger or greed echoed endlessly around her. An unending concert sending chills all over her body in a disgusting contrast with the heat of the _things._

It was happening in mere seconds and then her sight was restored, and she saw...

A endless mountain of _things_ vaguely humans surrounding her. Distorted, ugly, crushed, despaired or vengeful faces. Screams or laughter, madness and pain. An apocalyptic chaos hold together by the same wish of destruction, of vengeance.

Unable to move, Anya starred in horror as one of the face approached her and reduced the distance between both their faces.

And then it traversed her, followed by countless others as Anya was assaulted by fast passing scenes of death. By murder, by torture, by accident, crushed, pierced, split, decapitated or even burned... A never-ending stream of tragic death.

Scenes of people who refused their death, denying the injustice of the world and mercilessly seeking to enlarge their insane ranks.

Anya tried to screams yet was unable to, within the hot-moist of those horrors she couldn't move her body frozen by something akin yet beyond fear.

She tried to call for help, her mouth refusing to work as her slowly decaying mind searched desperately for someone, anyone who could stop all this.. this...

Anya was dragged, her body jerking as something her shaken sense couldn't understand pulled her away from the _things_.

Yet, as her eyes caught who had just saved her, she felt only a strange sense of awe. The newcomer was something frightening yet had a sense of beauty.

A gray form with feminine features, a steel-colored woman surrounded by green flames. A slowly moving form seeming uncaring of the blazes. The form embraced her, passing an arm around her body. From her other arm she waved at the spirits, making them slightly stand back as the fire touched them.

Yet and the girl could see it, they were only waiting for the moment when they would plunge onto her.

_'Don't look.'_

Anya froze once again as she heard the two words, spoken in a gentle from everywhere at the same time. Instinctively she turned toward the inhuman woman who slowly nodded at her.

Vaguely reassured she embraced the woman with her tow arms and buried her head in her chest. The green flames licking her made her feel sad but she didn't seem to suffer the fire.

The young girl closed her eyes, trying to block out the screams all around her.

* * *

Lelouch crawled within the roaring insanity, his black form reflexion of Zero and using the name of Requiem moving at a turtle pace.

He hadn't imagined that the contact between the old contractor of his accomplice and said accomplice would become like, but he should have!

Another wave of spirits pushed him back, the dense form unwilling to let him pass and interrupt whatever they were doing. Lelouch relented as a dozen of them charged him, sending the terrific images of their demise as they passed through him.

**_YIELD!_**

He screamed the order, refusing to let those spirits stop him.

**_YIELD!_**

They had freed them in order to turn back time, to have enough power to break the rules of times and now they couldn't seal their madness again.

**_YIELD,_**

Still he was the master of Geass, the one who pushed it beyond its limits and obtained a power close to divine.

**_BEFORE ZERO!_**

No human could control this power, but his avatar could. The dark figure forged out of ideals, the being whose he created.

**_AND FEAR ME!_**

Zero pushed, breaking the spirits away as he abandoned his human persona to become the bringer of Chaos. A perfect entity whom couldn't be stopped by mere mental attacks.

**_YIELD!_**

The death spirits fled as the order gained in intensity, becoming able to break an human spirit in a mere second, able to destroy entirely their existence within all worlds.

A pale figure appeared before him and Zero starred in horror. A immaterial feminine form was being teared apart by the rampaging abominations.

Marianne vi Britannia, her geass of "the Soul" placing her in the worst situation within this world.

Zero pushed forward, crushing the feelings that belonged to his human alter-ego, he ignored his fast beating heard. The existence was also one created to save people, one who gave hope and tried to cease the mindless violence.

Human or not, Lelouch or Zero, he would be damned if he let anyone left to be tortured in this insanity. Zero grabbed the woman passing through the spirits uncaring of their feeble tentatives to destroy him.

* * *

Anya didn't know how much time passed as she was still gently hold by the feminine form. The woman moved toward a certain direction, advancing despite the lack of ground. The girl only wished for it to end and hoped that then she could forget it soon.

All her skills and training as a Knight of Round were completely useless her, leaving her defenseless.

Something collided with them.

Sensing that they weren't moving anymore she moved her from the blazing woman's chest and looked the other side, fearing to see again those _things._

An unexpected sight greeted her, another humanoid black form was before him holding the a whitish form evoking a woman. He had his hand in the blazing's woman's own hand.

She could sounds like words, familiar yet spoken in such a way that she couldn't understand the meaning. Not even one sentence. It seemed that the two being were speaking together.

The pale woman moved oddly, pushing forward and surprising the two humanoid beings.

Anya realized with horror that it jumped onto her, plunging onto her body.

The black form said something visibly angered and put a hand onto her head.

Then Anya lost consciousness.

* * *

Long and difficult moments later, the vision of the material world returned to Lelouch. He found himself tangled up with the two girls, no traces of the insanity remained. Thankfully those spirits didn't seem to have the possibility to affect the physical world.

He looked at C.C who was also recuperating from the unwelcome experience, Anya laying asleep in her arms. Lelouch turned his head around and saw Sayoko standing her, bags of groceries having fell from her hands. A pot of Ice had broken free and was already liquid. The maid was livid, visibly she did see something of the madness.

Lelouch worriedly glanced at the clock, showing it was already three in the afternoon.

And then he heard a familiar voice on the radio:

"...As of now, we'll be launching an attack on the Saitaima area in order to punish the rebels, terrorism shall be crushed without mercy."

Cornelia had started to move.


	13. Chapter Twelve : Saitaima's Redemption

**AN : not much to say, on the beta reader point the thing is that my updates are really irregulars and unless someone is willing to do it. I'll most likely wait until the story is complete or near completion to get one, we're nowhere there yet.**

**Saitama much faster than Shinjiku, since it start and close here but then it fits the situation.**

**Seriously, Lelouch (R2) didn't realize how much he was right when he says that he would become the Devil.**

**Here he comes, creating chapters to capture the remaint of your soul!**

**Beware of the Devil's temptation!**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Twelve : Saitaima's redemption**

_Come Oh loyal Knight,_

_They call me the Devil for I grant wishes_

_And take their souls with me._

_I'll fill you heart, make you feel alive,_

_This is the cursed pact, you'll know great pleasures,_

_the world will change under your actions,_

_you'll spread my chaos, and pay me back in full._

_Rejoice damned soul, I'm your salvation!_

_I'll make your dearest wish come truth!_

* * *

In a blur Lelouch used grabbed C.C's hand ensuring he wouldn't lose control of his power, no waiting for reactions he turned his gaze toward the maid still at the door.

**"Treat this girl and don't let leave the house until I come back." **He turned to C.C. "I suppose you won't quietly stay here?"

The immortal glared at him, her breath was a bit raged, as Lelouch's was. "I'm coming Lelouch."

"Fine." Lelouch nodded, rushing into his chamber to take the necessary equipment while Sayoko under the influence of Geass was taking Anya into her own room.

Two minutes later C.C drove the car whose driver had been Geassed by Lelouch and headed toward Saitaima.

"You want to go again?"

"Zero want." Lelouch shortly answered as he dialed a number on his hidden cellphone. "Oghi..."

* * *

"We've surrounded the ghetto your highness." A soldier saluted as Cornelia sit eying the progress on her troop inside the mobile heart-quarter.

"Process with the attack."

* * *

Kallen breathed a sigh of relief as Zero called them and was pleased when told that the rebels had already left toward Saitaima. Britannien movements had been caught by the local rebel group.

The fact that Zero had foreseen the attack days in advance and warned the rebels that had yet to side with him had made things go much smoother.

_Do not try to stop them, use hit and run tactic and slow them down. Make sure the citizens escape, Yoshida will coordinate the evacuation, Oghi will handle the tactical side until I arrive._

There had been surprisingly little protests as Zero gave his order, even the local rebels complied without further questions. Probably a lot due to Zero ordering to create an escape road through an obstructed sewer, even using the 'borrowed' Sutherlands for it.

The red Knightmare of Kallen finally caught sight of the opposing force, despite her desire to rush into the fight she hide behind a building. The others spread around her, waiting for the retreating locals rebels to bring the advancing enemy in their reach.

They had to hold, till the Japanese escaped and Zero came.

* * *

C.C braked the bike on the side, taking the turn narrowly. She pushed the accelerator again escaping from the crowded area and finally entering the highway.

She focused wholly on the road and its obstacles, going only so fast as twice the allowed speed here despite her accomplice insistence to go faster. She refused, having experimented firsthand how easily one could crash in such situations.

The bike and its two passengers, Lelouch with his arms around his driver's chest, passed between the car. The road was blocked and most people were forced to wait as the traffic was difficulty regulated by the police forces.

They progressed, but entering Saitaima by the highway would be difficult, in the distance she could see a barrage with police cars, blocking the passages. The limit of Saitaima could be seen under them, A few infantry soldiers guarding the edge of the district.

_Left._

Through the glass of her helmet she glanced toward the indicated direction.

_Left._

Complying she braked the forward wheel upward and made them jump over a car, barely having enough space she drove centimeters only away from the border. Then she saw what her accomplice wanted to do.

_Jump_.

Unsurprised she braked once again the bike and passed over the border, jumping into the air under the stunned gaze of the surrounding people. Including three purists in their Knightmares.

* * *

Suzaku starred in frustration at the screen, the camera showing actually little important informations about the ongoing battle.

This whole operation didn't settle well with him, even if it was for going against terrorists, was such a large force needed?

"Now now, that's curious." Lyold mumbled as he looked at the screen with deep interest, hoping for a situation where his dear Lancelot would be called.

"What is?" Suzaku asked.

"It isn't like last time." Cecile whispered "there were much more elevens outside last time."

Suzaku's eyebrows furrowed in perplexity.

* * *

"It seems they were prepared." Cornelia commented flatly.

"Almost all buildings our troops went in so far were empty of people. This isn't normal."

"The situation is unlike Shinjuku, even the way the rebels fight is different." Guilford commented

"Is Zero here or not?" Cornelia asked in irritation. The rebels had done nothing but delaying them, they only were successful an at ambush once.

"the red Knightmare of Shinjuku is here, so it's possible." Darlton paused "But then they didn't get their hands of the train full of Sutherland we sent, so..."

Cornelia mumbled in annoyance as their forces continued to progress, if her brother's murderer didn't appear then this operation would be much less important.

And then...

"Your highness! Margrave Gottwald reported seeing Zero!"

The exclamation of the communication officer suddenly increased the tension tenfold.

_Gottwald?_ "Patch him through."

Three 'lost' signals appeared around the icons designating Gottwald, said icon turning orange as the liaison was acknowledged by the system.

_BAM_

_RATATATATATAC_

The sound of gunfire exchange and violent shocks echoed in the command center as the visage of the stressed margrave appeared on the screen.

"Margrave Gottwald tell me your situation!" Cornelia ordered, shouting to be heard in the abnormal noise.

"Zero is here, saw him entering a Sutherland!" Jeremiah was screaming, a sudden movement on the side showing that part of his cockpit was damaged, thus letting the outside sounds fill the cabin without filter.

_BAM_

Another 'lost' signal flared on the screen, three more followed on the other side of the battlefield. Cornelia and Guildford shouts order while Jeremiah tried to give a report of the situation.

"The Knightmare with me, don't let it approach!" he screamed as the closest Knightmares to him lunged toward two friendly Knightmares that came seeing their allies being wiped out. "It's an enemy! He can fire with IFF activated!"

"What?"

Two 'lost' signals appeared, the normally allied Knightmare passing by them, unaffected by its 'friends' destruction. In said Knightmare C.C chuckled, truthfully without Lelouch she would have never imagined to use her new Geass's power in such a way. It was funny the way they fell without being able to fire at her.

"It can't be! Sutherland cannot do that while IFF is active!"

"I am going after Zero." Jeremiah shouted while his cockpit opened. Cornelia briefly thought about giving him orders but dismissed it as more Knightmares were taken down. The damage even spreading the the retreating infantry.

"The rebels are attacking!"

* * *

"Yeah we're beating them back!" the voice of Tamaki was joyous as they pushed back the britannien army, truthfully they hadn't really taken much ground back. Zero had simply ordered the rebels with anti-Knightmare weaponry to hide in the building at an intersection. The britannien Knightmares searching for the enemies Knightmares had passed them, got pushed back by the Knightmares and...

_BAM_

Were mercilessly fired at by the little remaining grenades or missiles the rebels had, damaging and surprising them just long enough for the rebels Knightmares to take them down.

"Yoshida, how is the evacuation going?" Zero's voice asked after sending the coordinates for another ambush.

"We've evacuated almost all the non-combatants, we should be done in a few minutes." the man answered carefully from his Sutherland, watching for any possible threat.

Zero was for the following seconds, then Kallen spoke.

"They're retreating!" She exclaimed with both happiness and surprise.

"Freeing the field for Cornelia and her special units." Zero answered dryly, his voice somber than before. "We're leaving."

"What? But we're winning!" Tamaki shouted "Let's crush them!"

"Despite how well you've today" Zero began coldly "you are not up to fight against elite forces yet. We're leaving."

"I agree with Zero Tamaki, we've saved a lot of people and our losses are and we've saved pretty much everyone of the ghetto." Oghi supported

"They can't say their own losses are minimals." Kallen said with a feral grin.

Chuckling, the rebels made their ways toward the escape. Startled only when two Sutherland, Zero and his ally, joined their group.

* * *

Lelouch looked at the radar, devoid of any IFF signs except at the border, Cornelia and her warriors moved without IFF. Well if she wanted the place then she could have it, now he had something else to worry about.

He had been pleased by his group performance, the britannien Knightmares pilots sent into the fray were most likely not the best.

Three Knightmares on his side had been put out of commission, their pilot having all safely ejected.

Since him and C.C got two others this battle it was little loss on this part. However Lelouch suspected that the ammunition, especially the ones efficient against Knightmares had all been spent. He would need to look into the matter later.

"Zero, are you coming?"

The voice of Kallen reminded him that they were still on a dangerous place, C.C was right, he was being too careless. Even the manner in which they entered the ghetto was showy.

"Let's go." He forced himself not to let his annoyance at the realization show.

They had won easily even if in the end they were escaping.

But he was overdoing it, he had used Geass to kill the two pilots of the Sutherland so that they could stole it, and back then he had barely checked if there were any witness. And then he had used it twice again on others, just because it was convenient.

C.C too had used her new Geass, not that the britannien could deduce anything from the way she used it but...

Too many munitions, too many use of his power, putting the commander at front. He was spending too much for what he gained, he couldn't afford it.

_'we've spent a lot today I fear.'_

_'... Yes, it was overkill, I suspect our passage with those damn horrors didn't help.'_

Lelouch then heard something, voices, so many voices that he could heard them.

He realized it was a chant, a one word chant repeated over and over in an happy tone.

"Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero!"

He chuckled, it was a natural thing and yet he hadn't expected it.

They had stopped, far enough from the battlefield to be safe, thus Lelouch no, Zero, answered the call.

As the masked figure appeared standing on the top of the Knightmare the cheers doubled in intensity.

Behind his mask Lelouch smiled in amazed wonder. Did he became Zero so much that he inspired such feelings into people without even planning to?

_'The God of Madness behind the Savior of the Weaks.'_

Without moving his head, his eyes glanced toward the direction of his accomplice who was too out of her cockpit, starring at him with her greenish pseudo-mask on.

_'They're both part of you.'_

He smiled, feeling strangely... human. Curiously the feeling wasn't disagreeable. Fueled by inspiration he raised a hand in the air, the still on-going cheers died down.

"Yet again I witnessed the abuse of britannien, yet again there were losses. This sickening continuous spiral keep going, yet I can see that nor you, nor your spirit, nor the people of Japan has fallen yet. This country can still get back on his feet, and without a doubt, it'll." He paused briefly, glancing over the crowd below him."Today you survived, what you will do is your choice, whether you fight or not. Whether you use the luck that made you survive up to and today, to stand or to wait. Don't give up!" He spoke strongly the last three words, to awake their souls. "This land, this place in which you live is still yours to claim! By mine, by yours hands, this suffering, this enslavement shall-will end!" Zero thrust his arm in the air, his voice filled with a burning passion, a will. "I-we, will make sure of it!"

A moment of silence followed his speech, then someone clapped his hands, soon joined by others till all applauded. An unexpected hope, a tangible force that they hearts fearing to have it betrayed couldn't suppress.

"For Freedom!" Zero roared.

"FOR FREEDOM!" the crowd echoed.

"For Japan!"

"FOR JAPAN!"

"This country...!"

"WILL REVIVE!"

The cheers, the acclamations were thunderous, both the rebels and the citizens united under a same hope.

The hope of a messiah.

* * *

Jeremiah starred, his eyes widening as the cheers were threatening to make the ceiling fall upon him. That man, that masked man spoke with such a fire, such a will that Jeremiah almost found himself cheering the man.

Was there some answer as to why he helped him escape? It wasn't the ruthless and deadly speechs of his highness Cornelia nor the calm entrancing of prime minister Schneizel, it was light-years away from Prince Clovis's usage of pathetic and pseudo-empathy.

No, the man before him reminded him of a much more frightening existence, an existence which hold two-third of the world under its reigns.

He stepped back, letting the shadow cover him further. His eyes caught the sight of the red haired woman he had caught days ago (or was it weeks?). He had seen her unbreakable eyes and the rage.

But he hadn't seen her like that, standing tall on her Knightmare with a pride akin to Jeremiah the first days of his first assignment. The same adoration for someone you looked up to.

The knight let himself fall on the dirty and humid ground of the sewer's exit. Where did that fire to fight, the cause worthy living and dying for had vanished to?

He sighed with a sob sadly as the cheers continued, continued.

Where was his cause? The purist faction was in shamble, and he didn't even care about the ideals they represented, not really before and not a bit now. What did he lived for?

Where was his Lord?

"Lady Marianne."

his muffled whisper heard from no-one but himself vanished in the air, leaving the man even more lonely than before.


	14. Chapter Thirteen : Orange's Loyalty

**AN : To answer the reviews : Anya will still be there and is most likely gonna stick around for some time (Devil Lelouch, Devil). The Mask Symphonia isn't published, also the Demon King Requiem need some fix too. Both aren't published as though most events and timelines are done, they aren't completely written as story. Till next week I'm busy with some studying and then I'll also work on DKR (tMS later since it contain way too much spoiler)**

**Sai 0 : interesting, will mp you in the week. Thought if beta start it'll probably be first on fixing some chapters already published.**

**Currently wondering if I sometime don't describe enough characters feelings while fearing to fall into the opposite.**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Thirteen : Orange's Loyalty**

_The pieces fall on my hands, one per one._

_They all keep coming to me, drew by unfulfilled wishes._

_Come, don't hesitate, I'll take you under my shadow._

_The Fool._

_Disposed off._

_The Witch, The Queen, The Sixth and the Orange Knight._

_Already in my possession._

_The Goddess, The samurai, The White Reaper, the Maiden and the Princess._

_Soon they'll be mine or fall._

* * *

Cornelia bit her lips as they continued to search for opposition in the street of Saitaima. Herself and her elites guards kept looking, tensely prepared to face the ambushes or traps that their opponent couldn't have failed to place.

But only silence and deserted alleys greeted them, not any britannien nor eleven remained visible. All having retreated or vanished.

"Where are those scums?" She growled, impatience filling her. "Where is Zero?"

The only exchange of fire had been between two of her guards, both mistaking each others for the enemies, as the IFF was turned off, thankfully they didn't damage each others.

"Your highness, Frame Knight Villeta Nu wish to speak with you."

"Nu?" The princess narrowed her blue eyes, the person whom Gottwald vouched for and that was with him.

Then she recalled that Jeremiah had gone after Zero.

"Patch her through."

"Your highness?" A new feminine voice came over the speakers, her voice seemed in a hurry.

"Report."

"Rebels escaped through an underground tunnel, blocked the passage with explosives. I saw Lord Jeremiah going in two-three minutes before the tunnel collapsed."

Cornelia cursed under her breath, no wonder they couldn't find the damn terrorists.

"How long?"

"Over ten minutes, couldn't call earlier the signal couldn't connect."

The purple haired narrowed her eyebrows, outraged as she learnt that her preys left, just left like that without fighting her.

"All turn the IFF on, Darlton take three men with you and retrieve Nu while checking if you really can't pass through that tunnel (roger). HQ, get an underground map and find where they could have escaped (yes your higness). Guilford, you're with me."

She noted the 'hum' of disapprobation in her Knight tone.

"Don't worry about me Guildford, I'm only doing that just in case Gottwald manage to delay them."

"Fine." He noticed the hint of tension in her voice, born from frustration.

Truthfully she wasn't much confident in that. She just really didn't want to face the cost and losses and report now, without having been able to tear apart a few enemies she was sure her staff would have suffered from her mood.

Damn, she was pissed.

* * *

Jeremiah looked perplexed. The rebels had split once they left the tunnels after a brief moment of pause, most likely used by their leader to give his orders. The ones in Knightmares left most likely to their base while others were busy hiding the remaining weapons and the rest led the citizens to what safety they could find.

but what surprised him was that Zero had left his Knightmares to one of the rebel, another woman whom must too have driven a Knightmare coming by his side. She wore a strange greenish sort of mask. He thought he saw her last time too, but it hadn't been for long. And then the masked rebel had laughed, a darkly pleased laughter as the redhead girl had approached him and say some words to her superior.

Zero spoke some more with two rebels, waving away a protest from the redhead and he left. Heading toward Gottwald direction.

The man felt his heart race, fearing to have been spotted. he hides himself behind a corner and a trash container. Starring from his cover as Zero and the woman walked toward Saitaima.

_Why?_

Making sure there weren't any rebel ready to shoot him from behind he followed the couple, unsure of what he should do.

* * *

Kallen looked worriedly as she reentered her knightmare and zoomed on the man that started tailing Zero.

_"Zero, that bast-, the officer that caught me he's here."_

Her masked leader had paused, visibly resisting at the urge of looking around.

_"Following us?"_

_"Yes behind us, I'll-"_

_"AHAHAHAHAHAH!"_

Unexpectedly Zero had burst in laughter, a joyous yet slightly sinister laughter.

_"I'm really blessed with the Devil's luck."_

She imagined a faceless face grinning under the mask although she was unable to understand his reaction.

_"This is really a surprisingly busy day."_

Kallen had been startled when the woman whose green lines on her face prevented from seeing it, spoke. A hint of a shadowy smile on her mouth.

_"Time to pick fruits."_ Zero had said and then told her to only capture if he was followed them and not him.

She had protested but he waved off her concern for his safety. And then the woman with green had told her that this man had no chance to harming Zero.

Reluctantly she had nodded.

Her eyes left the screen showing the man going after her-their savior and she moved forward.

Then, without thinking, mechanically, the half-blood girl hide her Knightmare under on the abandoned hangar and exited her Gloucester.

Taking a gun, she told to her comrades to go on without her. She ran after the man, regardless of what Zero thought she wouldn't give that cursed man to capture or worse kill Zero.

"Kallen."

She didn't pay attention as Oghi called her, she moved forward.

* * *

C.C glanced at the large building, a britannien ones used as a warehouse. She nodded excessively answering the spoken words of her companion. She then walked away from Zero and turned at the right corner, out of sight.

She waited impatiently, waiting for a couple of minutes.

_'he's here.'_

_'covering.'_

The immortal woman, ignoring a couple of elevens that looked at her with wide eyes, entered the warehouse too. Despite the signal she advanced carefully so as to not get located by the man.

_'we're on the roof, just guard.'_

She complied silently, she didn't like the idea of Jeremiah alone with her accomplice while being enemy. However she knew Lelouch could take care of him with one word if it came down to it.

C.C found the stairs leading to the roof and sighed in relief as the stairs were holding firm and still, unlike the ones in the ghettos that made so much noise that any unnoticed entry would be impossible.

The immortal only needed to make sure the man wouldn't go too far and be here for when Lelouch would most likely call her. So as to confirm to Jeremiah that he would have still been outnumbered.

Someone entered the warehouse, C.C turned around, her eyes searching for the intruder.

_'Kallen!'_

_'what?'_

_'she followed us.'_

C.C could almost hear Lelouch mind going through plots and scheming at high-speed, processing the situation with an efficiency she knew she could never match.

_'Should I stop her?'_

She didn't like the coming of the redhead, even if she could guess why.

Kallen had always admired Zero after all.

_'no.'_

She froze, both at his answer and as she realized she was ready to pounce on the girl and knock her out cold.

Why? Why did she act like that? And more importantly why was she so ready to rely on physical strength? The old her, the one she was the same time on the 'past' would have struck her down with words.

Was it because this time around she had the power, the strength to beat her easily on the physical field? Or was it something else?

Taking a hold of herself she noticed that the redhead was already a couple of meters only away from her. At least she was doing it silently, making sure not to make a sound.

She hesitated, what if she entered the roof? Even if Lelouch had been warned she might still make a mess of the situation.

And then she grasped why Lelouch didn't want Kallen to be stopped. C.C placed a finger vertically on her mouth signaling to Kallen to avoid speaking as the two people on the rooftop continued to speak. The opened door and a few meters the only separation between the two groups.

Kallen placed herself on the opposite side of the opened door and glanced on last time at C.C before turning her attention to the roof. C.C sure she wouldn't just in yet turned her attention to the roof too.

"Wrong Jeremiah, you still don't know who killed your lord ten years ago."

* * *

_Earlier_

Jeremiah face entered the warehouse, looked around for any presence. Only Zero seemed present, the cloak of the masked man floating behind him as he advanced further in the warehouse not once bothering to look back.

The soldier hesitated, the deserted area didn't fully reassure him. Why would the man chose to enter this place? What if the fact that it was deserted wasn't a coincidence but a choice of the man concealing taking care of a too zealous soldier.

No, he hadn't been noticed, had he?

Jeremiah took an heavy breath then walked decisively forward. He kept getting depressed lately, he had to get to the bottom of things. Even if it was a trap Zero hold answers, answers to the many questions he had since he faced him in the street. The soldier checked that the gun was ready to be used while climbing silently the stairs. He leaned on the wall by the door leading to the roof. Maybe Zero had come to encounter someone?

A moment of silence passed, half a minute that seemed hours to the nervous man. The silence broken only by faint distant sounds of an active industry.

"Come Jeremiah Gottwald."

His heart skipped several beatings, the deep voice inviting in a deep tone. For an instant he considered running, leaving the man who had displayed strange _things_ during his escape.

As he thought that he realized that he was already entering the roof. He couldn't run away, not now, not from Zero. Maybe for Jeremiah's own sake.

"How are you Margrave? I hope they treated you well." He said as if greeting an old friend. Jeremiah raised his handgun toward the man, his nervousness increasing as he realized he was shaking.

"Zero... you're under arrest."

Zero chuckled, his cloak covering his whole body, the arms invisible under the dark veil.

"You don't seem very well." Jeremiah didn't answer, his voice had been weak enough the first time. If he tried to speak now he was sure his voice would fail him. "I didn't arrange some time to meet you just for you to be unreasonable."

Jeremiah kept silent, his instinct howling him to turn around, fearing the presence of the woman in green. Foolish he had been. Their separation had merely been an act.

"Gottwald..." He noticed a hint of a warning in his voice and needed no further confirmation. Slowly he lowered his weapon, just how close had he come to get a bullet in his back? Zero nodded in approval as he put back his weapon on his belt.

"Now, I'm sure you've many questions, don't you?" A minute passed in silence as Jeremiah realized that Zero was waiting for an answer, he slowly opened his mouth and said the only thing that oddly passed through his mind.

"What is Orange?" He instantly regretted his questions, there were tons of other things to ask first, still this question had tormented him. It had been a recurrent question during his interrogations, both one he asked himself and the others asked him. Zero was silent a moment then an amused 'hum' escaped his unseen lips.

"Orange, it's the name of your loyalty." Jeremiah starred in confusion as Zero continued "Orange, a color meaning strength and optimist, a name chosen to express a hope. A hope to see a man get past the errors of his life and rebirth as a guardian angel." He paused once again his helm tilting slightly on the right as the mask starred at him. "An expression of faith."

"What?" His voice was too close to a whisper, he didn't understand. He couldn't understand the words that man were speaking to him, how did they relate? With him? With his loyalty?

"Jeremiah Gottwald!" Zero snapped "How long will you remain bowing at the corruption? How long will you stay among a faction which depreciate the one whom you admire? Where is your faith?"

"My faith is to the empire, no matter how corrupt it may be, no matter how wrong the purists may be! I am the most faithful defender of the empire!"

"Even if this empire is wrong?"

Jeremiah took a deep breath, then answered in an equally calm tone as Zero. "Especially if this empire is wrong, if this world is wronger!"

"Why Jeremiah? What has this empire given you that you defend it so much?" Jeremiah hesitated, what was he doing here? Why was Zero arguing with him? Why did that enemy of britannia seemed sounded sad?

"Because... Because this is all I've left to protect! Because I was born and raised into this empire! because britannia showed me a Lord worthy to serve!" He paused and then shout "A lord that the enemies of the empire killed! People like you!"

Zero stood silently as a glaring Jeremiah took deep breaths to calm himself, his mind in a raging state of excitation both by the man's stubbornness to tell him he was wrong, and by the presence of the death ever surrounding him in the hidden presence of the woman in green. And then Zero took a step toward him, a single one as he spoke.

"Wrong Jeremiah, you still don't know who killed your lord ten years ago." Jeremiah glare became a perplexed stare, then an horrified yet hopeful one.

"You... you know who?" Zero slowly nodded, the movement sending burst of adrenaline through Jeremiah's whole body. At least, at least he might know, he might learn an answer to this question that plagued him for years.

"Who? Tell me who?" He jumped on the man, his two arms on his shoulders.

"Let him go!" A voice shouted behind him, freezing him in place. He turned his face over his shoulder, his eyes widen with rage as he saw that redhead girl again in his way. He didn't care of the handgun pointed at him and turned at the masked man, Zero had answers, the one he sought desperately for ten years.

"**Enough**." the voice seemed to stop time, Jeremiah released Zero and his still in air parted several centimeters away. One word, one word from Zero and he was stunned, his rage crushed, his mind blank as he fought to stay standing. Unknown to him behind him the redhead girl was having similar trouble.

But he had felt something Kallen hadn't, the moment Zero spoke while his hands touched his shoulders. He had felt, something different, something dark and twisted. A unsurmountable feeling of wrongness enough that he could vomit.

Zero unaware or uncaring of what he had perceived took two steps on the side, in a perpendicular arc between Jeremiah and Kallen. The glanced at Kallen then turned his faceless mask toward Jeremiah, closing his face to Jeremiah's, starting to turn around the soldier while running his arms millimeters away from Jeremiah skin.

"Listen and burn my words in your head Jeremiah Gottwald. You will learn who killed your lord, not from my mouth." He paused and Jeremiah shivered as the pan of his cloak touched his clothes. "The one who will tell you... are her children." Jeremiah stiffened as his mind stumbled, nine years of mourning slowing the realization. Zero continued circling around him, his ever close presence suffocating the soldier. Then he understood and conflicting emotions ran through him, including hope.

But Zero wasn't finished.

"Beware Jeremiah, burn my words and keep that knowledge locked away from prying ears. Remember who those children are, remember why they were sent in this land."

A longer paused as Zero stopped moving, standing before Jeremiah, his voice engulfed into dark meanings.

"Remember Jeremiah, keep those words hidden for if they fell into wrong ears... then you'll have truly failed, this time beyond any redemption."

Zero suddenly turned around, walking toward the two women waiting for him by the door of the roof.

"Remember Jeremiah, Orange is his hope."

He didn't turn back nor slowed as he spoke those last words. The trio left the place, leaving the man fell on his knee, his eyes filled with warms tears. A name repeated.

"Lady Marianne. Lady Marianne. Lady Marianne. Lady Marianne...I...I will...!"

"WUHAAAA!" he screamed to the sky, his heart exploding in a pure and sincere joy.

* * *

"Zero, I-" The man placed a finger on Kallen's mouth, preventing her from continuing. His cloak flew on his right behind her almost touching her yet avoiding it.

"I understand why you came, reasons which both come from you trusting and not trusting me."

"I trus-"

"Not yet, not now and certainly not today." His voice was filled with tiredness, a little of sadness too. Behind him the woman followed staying close to his left side, her hands caressing his cloak in a smoothing motion. "A lot has happened but much more is yet to unfold. Today you heard things that you may have not been ready to hear." He shook his head painfully. "It isn't that I don't trust you. I merely have... too much things that are insane, secrets enough to shatter all trust people place in me. Regardless if it's for bad reasons."

"You're not a monster." the woman said, her gentle yet pained voice surprising Kallen as much as the words.

Zero didn't answer to those words. He waved the subject away as they exited the place.

"It's time to part, we all need to recuperate, much still have to be done." Startling Kallen Zero took her hand and approached his mask in a semblance of a noble kiss. "Rest well Kallen, I shall pray that our roads shall coincide for a very long time."

He turned away and left, his surprising gentleness making the redhead dreamy.

"Thank for coming, and for trusting him." the whisper startled her, but as she was about to answer, the woman had already joined Zero.

"Such mysterious people." Kallen whispered as she looked at them even a long time after they were out of sight.

* * *

Lelouch tiredly walked in the house, his mind exhausted by the multiple events of the day.

The way Jeremiah had reacted, his determination mixed with despair. He wondered what things would have become if he had gone back as a prince. Could he have truly changed the system?

Then he remembered Suzaku, the old ones and pushed the idea aside.

"Lelouch." he turned smiling to his witch, she too wore a shadowy smile. They stood like that in the hall, looking amorously at each others.

"Hum..." Until a person waiting made her discomfort audible.

"Sayoko." Lelouch said with warmness despite his fatigue. The maid starred at them with a severe expression and bowed deeply, so deeply that Lelouch felt confused.

"Thanks you for saving them." she simply said. Lelouch made a perplexed expression for a couple of seconds, then shrugged smiling broadly. The maid stood up and without waiting for an answer reentered the salon.

"Miss Nunnally is waiting for you." she paused a moment and spoke in a lower tone. "Our guest is physically fine but still asleep."

"Good, for both things."

Part of him hoped that Anya would sleep till next day, for now him and C.C wanted nothing more than a quiet dinner and a good night of sleep.

He had the feeling he wouldn't have such luck through.


	15. Chapter Fourteen : Choosing your lord

**AN : Half satisfated with Requiem/V.V meeting, might have been better yet fitting Requiem state of mind. For those who forgot his identity : refer to chapter six.**

**Anya real introduction here too. The scene is really long, I considered breaking it with a different scene at some point , yet I felt it was more important to show the whole scene as to convey the feelings each of the characters have. I hope you don't dislike her as she'll stick around for a long time. The italic introduction this time feature two people at the same time, both in the same situation at the same moment. Guess who they are?**

**I put special care in describing well the scenes. Your opinion is welcome on the matter.**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter ****Fourteen : Choosing your Lord**

_Some situations in life change your whole existence,_

_today was such a moment for me._

_This road may led me to many ways and even downfall._

_But I understand it and it's my choice, if I chose this way..._

_It's because my deepest wishes can be granted here, _

_while still allowing me to watch myself in the mirror._

* * *

The darkly figure walked confidently on the non-existent ground, approaching the boy watching at the opposite of his location. The dark figure stopped a moment, his thoughts wandering as he felt a pang of annoyance at his own situation. He starred at the other boy for a few seconds, then smirked under his black faceless mask.

The area darkened, the usual pale mix of orange and brows that represented this world usual state lost its light as active will wished for the changes. The dark figure silently stood behind hoping the death spirits dancing around him wouldn't give him away too soon. The boy observed around him, searching for the cause of the growing change in the environment. Something tapped on his right shoulder briefly, he turned back.

"Greeting V.V" Requiem said as his face stood at V.V's own height, sickeningly close. "Were you lonely without me?" Requiem chuckled in a sinister fashion as the boy visibly stiffened.

"Not one bit." to his credit, V.V answered calmly. "you're as ugly as the last time."

"But of course, I am an incarnation of sins after all. It would feel sickening if I was a pink teddy bear instead." V.V raised his eyebrows at Requiem's comment, baffled by the weird humor of the entity. the remaining light faded from their surrounding, leaving them in utter darkness. V.V was about to speak when he felt hands running over his chests, tracing lines over his stomach then on his chest. He breathed faster.

"How sad, I really want to take out your intestines right now, so boring restrictions." Requiem sounded really pained yet serious, V.V shivered. Only the knowledge no physicals harms could be done in this realm prevented him from running away from the dark entity.

"Do you intend to keep on playing games in the darkness for a long time?" He said as offhandly as possible while trying to ignore the disgusting finger still tracing line on his front. Requiem titled his head, the movement lost to V.V due the lack of vision.

"Since you said I was ugly I thought you would prefer not to see my face, and I don't specially wish to see yours either. You, how should I put it, terribly lack cuteness." The boy grumbled in annoyance.

"I don't suppose you came just so we could trade our opinions about how much we loathe seeing each others faces? Get to the point already." Requiem shrugged and withdrew his finger.

"I was just soooo much wondering how your brother took the news that the murderer of his loved wife wasn't immortal anymore." The not-so immortal glared at the dark, his expression lost within the darkness. For his part Requiem was enjoying the unplanned environment, it had a odd feeling of speaking taboo things with an enemy-friend under the sheets of a bed. Not that he would ever share a bed with the boy, the Devil slay him if that happened.

"Why are you speaking of Marianne? What have I to do with her death?"

"Now V.V, even your brother already know that you killed her. He isn't THAT stupid." Requiem yawned, it was good messing up with V.V but really right now he would have preferred to sleep. Severals moments passed in silence, nodding off the dark entity didn't bother continuing the conversation. He had already predicted what probable actions the boy would take at his words, it would end up at his advantage regardless.

"Requiem..." V.V finally said, hesitating as he pronounced for the first time the entity name. The entity raised his head, starring at the position where V.V should be. "Zero." Requiem considered the words carefully, it might not be good if V.V linked the two avatars together. The boy surely had more than one assassin Geass-powered at his disposal, it was risky.

Patiently Requiem waited for the boy to continue, for no question had been asked.

"Wouldn't that dramatic rebel be of your relations?" Fully focused on the sound, the dark entity didn't miss the well ,but not enough, concealed nervousness in V.V's words.

"The man has good sense of taste, I like his costume very much. Sadly I fear I can't present you to him, he's keen on avoiding investigations."

"Then" V.V paused "You don't mind if I kill him?"

"Of course I do, he's too interesting to die so early in the war."

"War?"

The question was left unanswered, the dark entity suddenly vanishing out of the realm. V.V left alone in the darkness without realizing his interlocutor was gone.

Then he would curse the damned entity for one week before he would manage to get light back in the realm.

* * *

Lelouch was rudely awakened from his eyes caught a curious scene unfolding before him. C.C, on the bed, and a shadow that seemed to be Sayoko were doing arm wrestling midair, pushing each others with one arm and refusing to back down.

"May I ask what you two are doing?" He asked sleepily, both too tired and too used to weird things happening to be surprised. The maid jumped back in her ninja fashion as she mumbled an excuse.

"Sorry for disturbing your sleep, our young guest is awake and is currently waiting for you. Since you told me to..."

"Warn me when she got up. Thank Sayoko." Lelouch didn't bother asking further explanations and stood up searching for some clothes. He heard C.C snicker and Sayoko gasp.

"I-I-I'll make sure our guest wait for you." she stuttered leaving the room with blinking speed.

"Do so please." Lelouch replied not noticing the two females reactions as his mind was turned on the incoming talk with, most likely, Anya as his mother was probably still out of it.

"So bold Lelouch." C.C commented as she eyed amusingly his naked body, starting herself to get out of cover to accompany him. Lelouch froze briefly, his mind drifted out of his thoughts as he realized just to what the women had reacted.

"Whatever, you're staying here by the way."

"Nope" C.C replied instantly "I am not going to let you risk harm, your mother wouldn't but that girl is still a Knight of Round." Lelouch sighed.

"I can break her in one word, you can stay by the door if you want but I need her to see me alone. I need at least the appearance of privacy if I want to get her trust." The immortal grabbed his arm as she starred at his face.

"I won't." Lelouch said quietly, how he knew this look too much. An expression of her fears to see him disappear, forever out of her reach, once again.

"Go." She simply answered, distancing herself from him just long enough to grab one of his T-shirt.

They walked across the apartment. Lelouch stopped before the chamber one door away from Sayoko's. He looked silently as his accomplice put her back on the wall centimeters away from the knob. Should anything happens he didn't doubt she would be inside in less than four seconds.

He opened the door and entered. Inside a soft light emanated from the corner. The red curtains were closed, preventing any unwanted attention from outside, on a small bed laid an equally small girl. A pink haired girl with pale reddish eyes, albeit a far cry from the red of Geass. Lelouch could see her small frame under the covert, she wouldn't be much taller than Nunnally standing and C.C would probably be a head above her.

Definitively she was far too young to be a soldier, let alone a Knight of Round. As he slowly approached her he wondered what would she have become if her mother hadn't messed her up. Lelouch took a chair and put by the side of the bed then sat, putting his hand together in his laps in a attempt to diffuse whatever defiance she might have against him.

"How do you feel?" The girl starred at him with a faintly curious look, her face remaining impassible.

"...Fine...I think." Lelouch nodded approvingly, patiently waiting for Anya to emerge from her shell. "Who are you? You looks familiar."

"Lelouch." He simply answered. Her eyes slightly widened as they were subtly filled a sense of recognition. "It has been a long time Anya." his voice was warm and, she nodded.

"I... What am I doing here? Why are you here?"

"I'm sorry." Lelouch smiled bitterly, unconsciously knowing that Anya was an odd contrast between Nunnally and C.C. In many ways. "You're suffering so much because of my twisted family." Anya blinked twice, the movement being the only expression of her perplexity.

"I assume you don't remember the day my mother was assassinated. Since then you've suffered many memories troubles, haven't you?" His voice was still as compassionate as before yet he couldn't help but notice the sudden spike in tension as her whole body visibly stiffened. She still starred at him and yet her words were colder now.

"What...do you know?" Lelouch was silent was several seconds, his hands bound together supporting his head. His purple eyes boring into the pale red ones of Anya.

"Both my father and my mother are responsible for your condition, both for the lacking memories as well as situation as this one. Situations were you end up in place for reason you can't recall."

The young girl didn't look away from his gaze, she observed the man before him. Probably in her eyes confused as the familiar features yet so different, altered by age and trials. She kept observing him, waiting for him to elaborate. Lelouch leaned slightly forward as he lightly titled his head from left to right in contemplation, his eyes starring at her and yet further beyond her.

"Those are dark secrets, ones that once you know, you won't be able to return to your old life. It might-will bring forth much dangers, and if ever you face the emperor then you might lose all memories of this." He paused, his gaze focusing once again on her.

Anya felt a chill run through her spin despite the warm sheets on covering her legs. She took a small yet deeper than usual breath, her usually back-off mind sending her into a light headed state due to the almost supernatural situation. The pink haired girl repeated Lelouch's sentence in her mind, hoping to imprint the words in her head. A couple spasms of fears passed her as she felt afraid of forgetting the whole scene.

Lelouch silently let her to her thoughts as she closed her eyes to internalize the storm of unusual feelings most likely running through her mind. He himself felt torn, conscious that he might very well end up using this girl. True, it could be considered as a bargain like how he exchanged loyalty for Japan with the rebels. Like how Jeremiah would end up serving him.

But no, Anya was something else. Not because she ressembled both Nunnally or C.C, but because it was his parents, and indirectly his own, mess. He knew he didn't really hate in father in the same manner than before, he had lived too many things since then, now it was purely conflicting ideals that drew them against each others. Not mere revenge. With Anya the point was that both his father and his mother had messed her up as much as possible with their Geass.

Anya's situation was something he needed to fix, if only for the sake of the girl and to prove that he wasn't completely keen on destroying others people lives. Zero wanted to help the, ironically, weak girl while Lelouch related to his sister and acted probably in an act of rebellion against his parents.

_"You are not a monster."_ C.C had said, this was exactly the point.

"Lelouch..."he looked up at the girl calling him, she had reached a conclusion despite her shoulders shaking in an almost unnoticeable manner. "Tell me" She paused, her tongue visibly having trouble formulating the last words. "tell me all."

The man sitting on the chair nodded, his eyes once again losing themselves looking, not at Anya but at the mother he knew was inside her. He raised a finger and then he started to speak in a low tone.

"For the both of us, the story begin on that tragic day ten years ago, where bullets pierced my mother's body. I'm sure you forgot all of this terrible day, so here I begin. At that time, inside the villa of Aeris, I was asleep. My sister Nunnally left her room to see you, who was coming to visit her. Unknown to us children, my mother was preparing to receive a certain person and as to ensure secrecy sent all the guards away from the then defenseless place. Nunnally met my mother and you stood at the bottom of the stairs, having yet to greet my sister. Then then it happened, I didn't see the scene nor wish to known the details. My mother, the sole target, was mortally wounded by many bullets. Nunnally who Marianne hold in her arms escaped the worst, but her legs received reals damage, crippling her. Instead of coming, her visitor sent her a death squad. Thankfully you survived the assault unharmed... yet."

Lelouch paused, both to take a breath and to let Anya speak, the girl raising shyly her hand, her expression both present and distant. "Nunnally... is here then?" He smiled warmly at her.

"She is, you'll see her if you wish." She nodded, Lelouch waited to see if she had more questions. Anya gestured him to press onward and so Lelouch continued the terrible tale. "To understand what happens next you need to know the existence of a terrible power, akin to a curse. The amount of pain it brought into this world is maddening and yet it's still used, despite it's inherent dangerous nature. This power is called Geass, manifesting itself into the eyes of the users by two red sigils. V-shaped or bird-like, only if you know of it may you notice it, or if the power is so great that you just can't ignore it. The ability it gives is different for each person and always has some weakness, most of the time those abilities have to do with mind and anything related to that."

He glanced at her, watching for any sign which might indicate if she believed his words or not. Nothing gave away the answer for his questions. The girl merely waited, listening to the story that was also her.

"Many things happened as my mother feel the last of her life abandon her, chronologically here is what I know : my dying mother used her Geass 'the soul' which allowed her to enter someone else body and take over said person. Why didn't she choose Nunnally I do not know, maybe she simply couldn't. The person whom she chose was, and still is, you."

He pointed his finger at her, pausing as to let the revelation sink in. Anya's upper body kept leaning slightly backwards and forward, as she put pieces together. The scene of ten years ago but also another much more recent scene starting to make sense. Lelouch continued.

"Then, my mother possession perturbed your memories, as she took control and from then on those lapses in time are without a doubt the time during which she control you. While that happened, Marianne's body died and the Emperor entered the picture. I don't know why he was here, from what I gathered it was a too short time for him to have been warned of the incident and then called. It doesn't matter, only the fact that he was here remain. That person whom I refuse to call my father anymore had a power different from Marianne and yet also very frightening : the power the change people memories to his will. Nunnnally was the first affected. The Emperor didn't want nor you nor her to remember who killed his wife, the result being that for reason I do not understand he erased the events from my sister memory... but also he persuaded her that she couldn't see anymore! For the world to see, she was and still is blind."

Lelouch took another deep breath and the went on, approaching the end of the story. Not daring to look at the girl whose he was going to speak about, he looked up at the ceiling.

"You were next, as if my mother wasn't enough. Or maybe because my mother was within you, the emperor erased your memories of the event and most likely used it over the course of years. Replacing memories that could give away the presence of your uninvited guess to you, maybe giving you fake memories in exchange for I learned firsthand that he can do that. Afterward he left and I arrived at the scene at some point, witnessing the tragic scene. The rest is History."

He lowered his gaze to the silent girl, wondering if she believed him. Maybe she did...

"Lelouch, what happened just before I arrived here. That place... was it real?" He took a few moments to considerate his answer, not searching for any second just which scene she referred to.

"Yes, something went wrong when your mother touched us and then we went to... the , a place from which Geass come from among other things."

"So, you were the dark one. And the... woman taken and given back from and to me... was your mother." There was no accusation in her tone, more like trying to comprehend what had happened and its meaning.

"Anya... do you believe my story?"

"I do, but" She turned her head away, her eyes still looking at him. Embarrassment or confusion he couldn't tell. "what now? What am I to do?"

Lelouch sighed, then leaned back in his chair, one of his hand tapping lightly on his chair. "Regardless of your decision, I'll help you. You can regain your memory, if you wish to." He noticed her eyes widening as her whole body leaned toward him, one of her hand in the air. Her feeling of hope crystallized in with her whole body. He nodded slowly, twice, so to confirm his words.

"One way is to retrieve a device named 'Geass canceler', it's detained by an organisation studying Geass under the Emperor's order, but mainly directed by a man with no legal existence. It's the safest method."

"But... the emperor won't let me use it." Anya said softly. Lelouch nodded.

"No. Upon use it's highly likely that Marianne's soul will leave you, effectively ending her unorthodox existence. Needless to say she's the Emperor's ally, even for Nunnally she didn't put forth this solution to cure her blindness. In the end, the only way for us to use the Geass canceler is to get it with our owns hand."

"Betrayal."

"It's. Knowing about Geass is already something worth getting yourself killed, which is partly why you shouldn't met the Emperor." She frowned, it was curious how her impassibility slowly crumbled as the conversation was going forward.

"Other way?" Her monosyllabic speech wasn't changing however. Lelouch sighed loudly.

"It's I and my accomplice trying to use our power to erase the effects of Geass. I'm really not to confident about that, countering Geass with Geass tend to end up into explosive tragedies. I suppose at least we could get Marianne out of your body, but at worse we might all end up struck on **this** realm." He didn't feel the need to precise which place he was speaking about, the events were to recent to need anything else than a subtle reference. "Regardless, I'll see if I can get my hands on the canceler before all. If you think I-we take too long then I'll consider the second mean."

She nodded.

* * *

Suzaku sleep was kept being disturbed. Outside his room, private thank to his raise in ranking and the general distaste of any same rank officer to share the same room as an eleven. Sadly the walls were far from soundproof.

He hadn't been called to the fight a Shinjuku, mostly for appearance's sake he had been waiting for the Lancelot to be launched among the support forces behind the mobile HQ. Needless to say no one had expected him to be launched, himself included. If Cornelia li Britannia was famous for many things, her utter dislike of numbers was an accepted truth. Suzaku sighed as voices continued speaking on the other side, surely placing him in that room so close of the common room had been purposeful.

Ironically, the situation allowed him to know much more that he'd have had otherwise.

Having no choice but to hear, he collected various facts. It seemed that after the operation ended FUBAR as the soldiers said or using a 'strategical retreat' as some officer argued, the Viceroy had been in such a foul mood that she threw by the windows an official who wished her to participate in some social gathering. Otherwise conflicting opinions were throw about the utility of today operation, it was curious for Suzaku to see for once the britannia soldiers less than eager for wage war. It wasn't that they contested their superior wanting to make Zero and the elevens paid, nor was it because of the contestable reasons they had to slaughter a ghetto. No it was merely opinions voiced when looking at the losses compared to what they probably beaten.

Words about a man named Braten were spoken in muffled whispers, too low for Suzaku to heard. Finding himself unable to sleep his thoughts wandered on Lelouch. Every time he thought about the young arrogant boy that he used to be, with a terrible sister complex, and compared him to the one he was now... it just seemed that the world had turned upside down. Maybe it was just him lacking zone key points in his changes, he was growing up nicely. Heck he even was on the way of making a family from the look of things. He also hoped he didn't screw up everything by stupidly blowing Lelouch's cover to that girl, well Lelouch could probably handle it.

And better, while being a soldier he might be able to help Lelouch here. It was a strange turn of fate that made Zero and Lelouch encounter, even more that the former saved the later. That the masked man had saved his friend made him perplexed. Apart from killing Prince Clovis, what had Zero done so wrong? The man was wrong, using murder to achieve his means would never be the correct way... but still he couldn't deny just how much people he had saved, not bound by discrimination that made him refuse to save a britannien.

Suzaku shook his head in the darkness, sighing as the never ending contradictions in his life roasted him alive bit by bit. For now, he had to capture that woman with Zero. If the possibility to confront the woman and Lelouch's friend existed then at least she wouldn't be suspected as a terrorist and Lelouch could continue on his peaceful life.

He smiled, that his friend managed to quell his hate for Britannia and chose to live on felt satisfying. Lelouch was happier as he was than if he took a gruesome path, wasn't he?

"Gottwald! You're back!" Shouts from the other side of the wall attracted his attention, his attention sharpening as he recalled earlier words. That man had gone after Zero in Saitaima, did he success?

In the common room the atmosphere became more joyous despite the lingering sense of wrongness in the air. Jeremiah Gottwald's popularity kept going forth and back from terrible to magnificent in the last few days. The ex-leader of the Purist faction entered with a tired smile, surprised himself at the warm reception the others soldiers gave him. He didn't really heard about Braten suicidal behavior nor did he followed all that was said about him.

"I might have not come back, gotta break a bottle later." His last comment referred to how soldiers opened a bottle, usually of some alcohol beverages, on a Knightmare when they got back alive from a dangerous mission. Originally it was a tradition of baptizing Knightmare that way, which itself derived from how a bridge inauguration was conduced.

"Yeah a bottle for Orange." the mood suddenly went downward, but then spiked up as Jeremiah answered.

"Just for that, you pay the bottle."

"Damn, fine I guess."

Usually, in the few days were the word had been spoken to the man he hadn't really token it well. He hadn't once made an outburst though. He just confronted those who badmouthed him without hesitation, unfaltering before the comments despite how shaken he obliviously still was.

But here he was still smiling tiredly as someone poured him a glass of beer. "Tell us Jeremiah! What happened?" it was a curious chorus to see all the soldier speaking in such union for any outsider, however to them it was merely an example of their discipline maintained at all time, an example of uniting against threats too in some cases. For some moments the margrave seemed to hesitate, as if hold back by something. Then he smiled, albeit for different reasons that they thoughts.

He had already made his reports to her highness, who was beginning to take Zero more seriously. Which explained why he arrived so late, on the other end it gave free time for the rest of the night. He closed his eyes a second, as if preparing his words while he contained once again the burning desire to claim to the world that his lord's children were still alive. Remembering the masked man's words however he chose a different approach.

And so he spoke, a thundering story exaggerated as everyone expected it to be. The stunning cascade of two people on a bike, sending them into pursuit and stumbling upon Zero on the way, who got his hands on two allied Knightmare Heaven know how. The one-sided beating against the Knightmare with IFF preventing quick response turning into a battle of epic proportions with size or seven times the amounts of ammunition of a dozen Knightmares flying everywhere. Him tailing the rebels and their leader within the tunnel, barely avoiding being crushed underneath the rubble as the tunnel had crumbled with explosives from the rebels. He particularly described Zero's speech and the hundreds, if not thousands, elevens truthfully hanging on his every words with renewed desire to bite their rightful invaders. Then the tense moments of avoiding being spots within the sea of people going on all directions, while he had struggled to keep with the masked man.

He changed the scene of the roof a little. Instead of what happened Zero had, with supernaturals means, knew that he was followed and set up a trap for his ambushes. The masked man becoming a living God of Death as the soldier had fought not to win but merely to survive, only to stumble into the redhead he had caught days ago and more than ready to have a talk with him about it. Finally adding to the mix the weird woman with green things on her face and, he precised in great details, four firearms and eight visible knives on her. All looking like it would be very painful it he got caught.

Then after putting a last stand against his three terrible opponents he had retreated out of ammo and, albeit with his uniform dirty, relatively unharmed. The fact surprised more than one soldier, Jeremiah shrugged it off as he said that Zero and the green women had thankfully not put too much efforts into ending his life. Most likely because the redhead woman had show such an ardent desire to crush his manhood (an united nod of compassion came from all the way at the word) that the two masked people hadn't bothered to stand in her way.

Jeremiah concluded his 'slightly' reworked story by recommending to his fellow soldiers to avoid giving some specifics bad names to dangerous eleven women for it was dangerous for things other than their lives in some cases.

Needless to say there were more than one laughter or moments of tensions during the telling, in the end the soldiers raised their glasses for Jeremiah as thank for his luck against such dangerous odds.

Gottwald's smile was a bit odd as he raised his own glass for the cheer.

* * *

Five days passed. The first time Anya got up from her bed and entered the salon a curious scene happened. Lelouch was coming back from the kitchen with breakfast, C.C stood by Anya's room while Sayoko helped Nunnally getting up. The Knight of Six had glanced at Lelouch greeting him with a movement of the head and then had looked at the woman at her side.

Lelouch had starred in stupefaction as Anya rushed into C.C without any warning and braced her two arms around the taller woman's chest. With no hesitation she had buried her head in the green haired woman chest and had stood here for several seconds. C.C had made a surprised face too at the gesture but then answered by hugging the little girl, covering her with her own body. The scene a reminiscence of another in another realm, which the two immortal had suspected being the whole point of this new development.

Then they had token breakfast, Lelouch finding himself deeply confused as his and C.C's relation with Anya became sort of Parent-children. With Anya warming up to Nunnally (then again who wouldn't?) in a sibling relationship. He had then decided in a grand fashion that his family would always and regardless of timeline be screwed up in some ways. Thus began Anya's day of living with their growing family.

Now however he was considering however development as their door was pushed open and the barrel of a riffle came aiming at his neck.

"RAAAAHHHHH!"

A terrible scream of pain echoed in the place, pure manifestation of agony before the tortures of this unfair world.


	16. Chapter Fifteenth : Ashford Invasion

**AN : Reviews and a a few last exams, those be cursed forever, seem to make my inspiration spike. Welcome back to 'Lord Lelouch' too, I wondered where you had disappeared.**

**And yes, last chapter cliffhanger was evil. That said I hope this situation bring a refreshing change from the overused use of cannon Kawaguchi Hotel incident.**

**Without further ****ado, let's the show begin!**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter ****Fifteenth : Ashford Invasion**

_If I had the choice, no blood would be spilled on this place,_

_this place that had been my-our home for ten years,_

_Even so I shall not relinquish, standing back would be the worst option._

_Kusakabe, back then you were a fool, I didn't believe you could become an even greater one._

_You're like Clovis and like him, for your blindness, your follishness and your misconceptions..._

_Thou shalt die, teared apart by the endless suffering I'm bringing upon you!_

* * *

_five seconds earlier_

Lelouch barely identified a man pointing a rifle at him as an eleven when three knives, still bearing traces of food, hit respectively his finger holding the trigger, his hand and his eyes. The man let out a scream a pure agony, the knives still hot from the dinner. The cut finger had only started to fell when his companion was assaulted by three fast moving women. Lelouch didn't even thought of helping as he saw the deadly trio submitting the opposition in perfect synchronization. Whoever the attackers were they obliviously stood no chance against a ninja-maid, a Knight of Round and an immortal reinforced with physical abilities beyond normal reach.

"Alive!" He shook his contemplation away and shout, his order coming barely in time to avoid a second dying person on the carpet. As they stopped their movements he saw that he had been well inspired in stopping them. Anya had aimed to disable, his guess was that the knife on the other man's hand was her. Sayoko had been the one to cut the finger and it was only thank to his order that the second man's hand remained. As for C.C, the insane strength needed to send a meat knife flying through eye and brain was something only she had. Her hand stopped millimeters away from the second man heart however confided him that the first death hadn't been an accident.

Everyone stood still for a few moments till Lelouch began turned into commanding mode.

"Sayoko stay with Nunnally and make sure she's safe, C.C check that no one else is coming, Anya hold that man down." The speed and efficiency at which he was obeyed made him think of increasing disciple within the rebel group, but that was an iddle thoughts for now. "Which group are you from and why are you here?" He asked the shaken eleven dressed in dark brown military clothes. The man starred at him with his eyes unfocused, the brutality of the events rendering him speechless. Lelouch didn't let him time to recover. He grabbed the man by the shoulders, it would look less suspicious done that way especially to Anya and Sayoko.

"**Answer!"** It was a brief order, the brevity only increased the power of the Geass. The man shook as words started to flow from his mouth and Lelouch really wondered if what the man told him should be considered as a great opportunity or a downhill situation. He glanced at the fading sun as his mind planned his course of actions. "Knock him out." he said to Anya and was obeyed dutifully. "Sayoko, take Nunnally through western secret passage."

"Brother." He turned toward the voice who had called him in a pleading tone. "Don't..." Lelouch smiled albeit she couldn't see it and spoke in a sad yet detemined tone.

"There are people needing me Nunnally, I can't just run away and hide." He wasn't even speaking about Zero, even as Lelouch he would have done something. Nunnally hung her and whispered something he could barely heard.

"Don't die."

"He won't." answered a decided voice as C.C reentered the place.

"Thank Kate." The blind girl said honestly, finally letting be led away by the Japanese maid. Lelouch turned to Anya who was tying up the eleven on the ground.

"Anya" the small girl looked at him, her sightly tense features the only indication that the situation had turned into a battle. Lelouch hesitated, if he was making a mistake and the girl turned on him he would be done for. No, Anya had too much to lose by revelating the secret she was about to learn and little to gain. She already knew that his mother, thus the Emperor knew what he was doing anyway so... "Are you on my side?" She bored her red eyes into him and he starred back at her, an heavy moment of silence passed by.

"Are you going to give me back my memories?"

"Yes." He almost cracked a smile, he had asked a confirmation and in return she had asked a confirmation. Fair enough. She closed her eyes briefly, as if to burn his answer in her deficient memory and then starred at him again.

"I'll-I'm standing by your side. There might be many things I don't know about you but in those last days I know you aren't someone bad." It was a very long sentence coming from her and Lelouch felt oddly warm at the acknowledgement. "And... I know you'll always act for our-Nunnally's sake." A moment of silence passed as C.C approached and took her up into her arms.

"You've gotta make sure he doesn't get killed too now, it's hard work I tell you."

"I'm not that reckless." Lelouch argued as he reached for his black cellphone, feeling uncomfortable as two golden orbs bore into his back.

"Then I'll have to work very hard." came the apparent emotionless reply.

"Now" Lelouch said feeling a beginning of an headache "Let's get to work."

* * *

Oghi and Kallen were watching the news with a few of their comrades at the mobile base when the event happened.

_"...of Ashford has been taken over by a group of terrorists. The leader of the group claims to be Lieutenant-Colonel Kusakabe of the now defunct Japanese military. It's unclear as of yet why the school of Ashford had been __targeted. Unconfirmed sources suggest the presence of a member of royalty present incognito within the building. The Academy is one of the most renowned of Area 11, an average of seven of the yearly ten top students of the country coming from here. In the recent years the place has been known to have a very active and fantasist student president, however the place has been build upon remnant of a military facility a few years prior to the invasion. The place is a veritable stronghold with heavy securities and expert are lost as to how the terrorists managed to get in. We don't have yet any information regarding the student situation as the place has been locked down by the protection system, whether they're controlled by the terrorists or by the staff is still unknown."_

"Seriously, what are they doing?" Kallen asked to no one in particular. She hadn't really liked wasting time in this place but even so being taken hostage wasn't something she wished for the students.

"They are trying to get something I think, but bargaining with Britannia never end well." Oghi commented grimly. As an ex-teacher himself he felt quite annoyed by their compatriots actions, it wasn't something Naoto would have done either. "I wonder what Zero think of that." He didn't mean to say that out loud but as if on cue his cellphone rang startling everyone in the room.

"Moshi-moshi?"

_"Z here, did you see the news?"_

"Ashford situation yes."

_"A question for all of you, do you agree with their actions?"_ Oghi repeted Zero question to everyone in the room, the rebels looked at each others for opinions.

"Don't think we would have gone for it. Taking on children like they do, for whatever reason, is just bullying." Yoshitaka speaking his mind for all it was worth.

"It makes us no better than Britannien." Kallen growled in annoyance.

_"Good then we're set. Open the boxes in the third room upstairs."_ Perplexed the rebels did as they were told and brought half a dozen boxes down, small boxes with a size of half a meter cubic. They opened it and starred in wonder at the content. Zero voice came again over the speaker mode of the phone. _"It's time for you-us, to become more than rebels."_

"They're amazing." Oghi said detailing the black clothes piled up inside the boxes, each uniform with their first name written on it. "But Zero, isn't that a bit much for a resistance group?" He asked in concern.

_"No, we're not a resistance group. Make that clear. What we are, what we strive to become... are Knights of justice." _He paused to let his words sink, then explained his-their goal. _"Tonight, we're going to show the world what we are. We're making the first step into making a real difference, paving the path for the future. Tonight we shall rescue the hostages within Ashford ground and stop those senseless acts of violence!"_

* * *

The encirclement around the school was so thick was a lizard couldn't even attempt to pass with two or three lives. The area wasn't overly large to surround, taking the place back was another problem altogether.

If Cornelia li Britannia wasn't currently busy holding back her furor and trying to find ways, she would have admired the insane defensive measure of the complex. It was no wonder the place had survived the invasion, under the cover of the walls were reinforced walls of concrete, able to withstand a few direct hits from tanks. The outside walls surrounding Ashford had even risen from their foundations, from three meters high they had raised up to nine meters. From what they gathered the whole big building, excluding the dormitory and the outside buildings were all made in the same manner.

"Definitively no Knightmares can enter here without cause a mess." Guildford confirmed again as he starred at plans of the school, obtained from the minister of Defense. Overall it wasn't that they couldn't send a Knightmare to take care of the terrorists but if they did the gigantic mechanic would be greatly delayed with the defensive setting. They would both offer easy target plus being utterly unable to rescue any hostage.

To add, the surveillance system who now obliviously had been seized by the terrorists would alert them of an attack. Unavoidable retaliation would follow on the hostages.

"Curse, why did you have to be there Euphie?" Cornelia mumbled under her breath. Truthfully it probably wasn't a coincidence that the attack took place while her sister was there, most likely she even was the whole reason behind the attack. No words could describe how much she would like to have that scum of eleven Kusakabe in her hands, she would make him suffer tenfold what she suffered right now.

Three infiltrations teams had been sent so far, all had been found out and had to retreat, the eleven still killing one hostage each time in advertisement. If only her sister was here Cornelia wouldn't have hesitated to send her troops, the hostages be damned, but as things stood if she tried to rush in her sister had little to no chance to make it out alive. At this point she could only pray for a miracle... or hope that one of their soldier made it inside successfully.

"If it come to it..." Guilford gave her a long look but eventually nodded stiffly.

"Then I shall come with you my Lady." It seemed not only Zero had idea of suicidal rescues._"_

_"A new development in the hostage situation, the terrorists have claimed their demands, demand the retreat of forces around the school and that no military units shall be in the five hundred meters radius of the school. We're waiting for- Oh! What is that?" _On the screen the image zoomed onto a windows, a shadowy figure appearing before the yellow light coming from a nearby invisible lamp. The figure stopped by the windows, seemingly speaking to someone outside their sight._ "Zero! Zero appeared! Is it really him? And if it's, what is he doing here? keep watching, we'll inform you of-"_

Cornelia punched on the arm of her throne-chair, her teeth tightly clenched together as she starred at the form, as if on cue the black form turned his head toward the camera and made his cloak flow in a mockery of a greeting. Then he walked onward and disappeared from sight.

"You... are you here to take her too?" the blue eyed viceroy frightened whisper wasn't heard from anyone in the temporary command center.

* * *

_earlier_

Anya whistled as Lelouch stood wearing the black cloaked costume with only faint lines of silver to humanize the form, as the dark crimson scarf he wore was almost invisible under the moonlight. Her mostly impassible face made her reaction somewhat awkward.

"Dark."

"The original design was way more frivolous I tell you." C.C commented, herself not wearing her own costume but a cloak-less copy of Zero's. Lelouch glanced at the almost unchanged mask with a somber purple oval face. Lelouch put his it on his head, turning him into a shadowy phantom.

"You know what to do, let's get moving. and Anya" he turned his masked face toward the girl dressed in an Ashford uniform originally belonging to Nunnally. "Live." The girl starred at him, slightly unnerved as the sinister form constrasted with Lelouch-Zero's words. She nodded and then left. C.C looked at Zero, her face covered with the usual green fluorescent lines. However this time she wore a dark hood over her head while her hairs were fully hidden by the hood and then going down in the back on the costume. A prudent measure as to avoid herself being recognized by some students as Kate, so far the world wasn't ready to heard an explanation about her theorically having a clone. The lines wouldn't serve their usual purpose so well, taking enemy attention away from Lelouch, but it had to be done.

_'We look like Shinigami here.'_ C.C commented as the two dark forms walked toward the main building of the school.

_'Especially if we only communicate with thoughts.'_ Lelouch added dryly.

The duo fell silent as they approached the entry. In the distance they could hear sounds made by britannien forces. Someone called to them, ordering them to stop, from inside the building. A windows was broken as a submachine gun appeared between the flying shards.

"**Freeze.**" Without any sign of excitation as the weapon remained standstill C.C broke teared the lock apart from the door, then opened it without difficulty. Lelouch raised his gun at the immobile eleven by the window and fired. The silencer on the gun muffling the sound. Picking up speed the two shadows moved started to move faster inside the halls, turning off the lights as they progressed.

* * *

Kallen clenched her weapon with nervousity as they walked in the underground passage leading to Ashford. How Zero had knowledge of the place was lost to them, Zero had said he was already inside the operation's area. The man kept shocking them every other days, always making incredible things so simple. Oghi glanced at her, his two hands on his weapon and like her having a mask on her face. They weren't too sure why but Zero had insisted that they kept their face hidden for the length of the operation, although for Kallen it was pretty much a giveaway.

A few minutes later the twenty or so rebels, Knights of Justice hadn't sunk in yet, arrived at a reinforced door. They stopped at the unexpected obstacle, Zero hadn't mentioned it to them. Worse the door seemed to have no way to be opened from their side. Oghi was bringing his transmitter to his mouth when the door clicked and opened, turning away on its hinge to reveal the dark form of their leader before them. He gestured them to come and they complied silently, it was becoming frightening how Zero always foreseen and solved problems before they even realized it.

The place they entered was large, very large with a high ceiling. Kallen felt confused as to why such a place existed, further ahead she noticed another shadowy form standing guard before the place's other entry. Despite the hood, the slender frame gave away the identity of the person as Zero's ally, a woman who after passing three days with no name presented herself as C.C. Obliviously it was as alias as much as Zero's.

"Wow, is that a Knightmare?" Kallen turned at Yoshida's comment, following his gaze toward a tall standing machine. The humanoid shape giving away its identity easily.

"I don't recognize that model." the readhead commented perplexed, what was such a thing doing under a school?

"This is the Ganymede" Zero voice answered "the first of the third generation and the parent of all Knightmare Frames since then."

"The one Marianne the Flash used?" Zero chuckled at the hint of excitation in her voice that she couldn't hide. She starred at the metallic blue giant.

"The one and only" Zero chuckled "can have you drive it later if you want, for now we should be going." She blushed as she couldn't help but blush, both for her squeal at the prospect of driving such a Legendary machine and both because she was subtly reminded that they weren't here for sightseeing. Oghi, and many others, looked dubious at the exchange and at the fascination Kallen had for the KMFs.

However Oghi also wondered just who Lelouch was to obtain the right of driving such a thing, it implied he has connection within the place. Then again if he knew about the underground tunnel and how to open the door, locked with a number code, then he certainly had one or two allies here. Which implied he had britannien friends, food for thoughts. He put it aside for later as Zero explained the plan while they walked careful to their surrounding, they noticed a few Japanese invaders laying on the floor either unconscious or dead.

"The students are hold in two groups separately, one in the canteen and the other in the Festival's hall on second floor. Likely they're to execute the other group if we try to attack one, so we need to take them both out simultaneously. Their leader is on the second floor too on the communication room with the VIP target. C.C and I will met their leader and distract them, then each group will attack. C.C will give the signal over transmitter. Despite that the hostages takers are fellow Japanese, do not hesitate to fire. This is utter foolishness to believe Britannia will relinquish Japan for hostage and they know it. For each one you try to disarm, you must be prepared to lose three times as much comrades."

There as a certain feeling of unease as Zero told them to gun down other resistant without hesitation, yet his arguments had some value.

"If you still have doubt about it, remember that by any mean we can't let the VIP die there. She's the only reason the Viceroy haven't attacked yet, shall she die too in this Land, Cornelia Li Britannia will no doubt attempt to genocide every last person of the same nationality that those who killed so much members of her family."

Again, there was a growing feeling of unease as Zero forced them to realize just how much their success weighted upon Japan's future, even if Japaneses weren't the victims in this situation. The group split, each led respectively by Oghi and Kallen while Zero and C.C black forms advanced onward toward the elevator. A mean like another to distract Kusakabe's men from Kallen's group going up by the stairs.

"Halt! Who is there?" Zero walked calmly out of the elevator, the light broken with his Geass as to intensify his dark image.

"Zero." His voice echoing in the dark alleyway seemed to freeze the lone Japanese aiming his weapon at him. "Led me to your leader, I have to speak with him." He didn't use his Geass, it wasn't even needed. The man radioed his allies and after brief exchange, indicated to follow him albeit still holding his weapon ready just in case.

Lelouch smiled underneath his mask, Zero's mystery was still attracting people to him like flies. As long as Cornelia didn't take reckless actions all would be going just fine.

* * *

Cornelia broke free of Guildford grip, Darlton tried to hold her back too but failed to restrain her raging fury.

"I'm going in there and that's final you two."

The knights sighed in defeat, even if they knocked out their princess (not that they would dare), she would still go save her sister even if she had to crawl all the way. In unisson they checked their weapon as Cornelia clenched her hand on her sword at her waist. Things were definitively going to get ugly.

Having let herself been caught by the rebels and put among the hostage, Anya waited among the students ignoring those who eyed her curiously. Two firearms hidden under her skirt, ready to play her part as any moment. A nearby watch biped as the twentry-third hour of the day began.


	17. Chapter Sixteenth : Black Knights

**AN : Noticed I made some mistakes last chapter, especially Oghi referred about Zero as Lelouch, obliviously I got the name wrong. ****I didn't expect this chapter to be such a pain to write, thus I went on mainly with Lelouch/Zero pov and condensed some of the scenes. Infiltration truly isn't my most beloved genre.**

**I won't delay you further. Thank for the reviews, keep at it, and have a good reading.**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Six****teenth : Black Knights**

_So many people I knew and barely remember._

_Time changed my memories, changed me too._

_No longer immortal I forgot to consider what it means to her,_

_She thought me lost forever twice times, she knew there would be no third chance._

_It's one of my greatest mistake, forgetting me being the last string keeping her sane._

_Neverthless I must continue, I must change this world anew._

_Heard my calling and come oh my dark pawns, come my Black Knights!_

* * *

Zero entered the communication room, despite that he hadn't been in the place since an equivalent of decades, the place still hold a vague sense of familiarity. Lelouch smiled as he recalled Nunnally meowing onto the loud-speaker for an event he had since long forgotten. The place was still small, only four seat and place for two dozens people at most. He gave his two handguns to C.C as the men checked him for weapons. How regrettable he still hadn't received the Zero's battlesuit, the hidden weapons could have come in handy here.

Two men stood by the door, watching the immobile form of C.C one mere meters away from them.

"Greeting Lieutenant-Colonel Kusakabe, and of course her Highness Euphemia Li Britannia." He made a slightly bow, too light to be taken as anything else than politeness Truthfully it was a bit curious to see those two people in that particular place, Lelouch let Zero wipe out the idle thought and focused on the Japanese leader, arguably a bit roundish for a soldier. The fact that the man was the only person sitting in the room didn't help his image, at least not to Zero.

"So you're Zero, the famous Zero. Of all times I didn't expect to see you tonight." The impassible face starred back at him, noticing the sweat falling from his face. There was a certain edge too but Zero didn't think himself was the cause.

"I've seen far stranger things happens. For now I truly wonder why are you trying to achieve here." He actually had a fairly good guess of what was going on, a failed kidnapping turning sour. He glanced at the pink haired girl, Euphemia silently starred at them both. He noticed a bruise on her face, visibly Kusakabe hadn't been very patient with her. Kusakabe tapped the ground with his sheathed Katana.

"We're showing those accursed britannien that Japan isn't death! Showing that despite their barbaric might they can't even protect their people, even a member of their royalty!"

"And?" Zero asked, his cold voice contrasting with the man's raging words.

"What?"

"Once you've slaughtered all the hostages and cut down a powerless girl" Zero gestured toward Euphemia "What will you do?"

An heavy silence settled over the room, its weight increasing each passing seconds.

"You'll die." - "As for what will be achieved here, it's simple." - "Every forces of britannia : citizens, press, military and more importantly high ranked officials will be out for eleven blood. Without the excuse I had for Clovis and worsened with the death of hundred children."

"So what? We won't go down without a fight, we-"

"-will die a pointless death, bringing more of your compatriots for your selfish's ego. Clovis was bad enough using his status for his own goals, you using britannia oppression for selfishly creating more bloodshed is even worse."

"Enough of your nonsense, I didn't let you come to be insulted! Zero, either you're with or against us!"

The door opened, a shadow entered wordlessly the place with arms expanded, guns in hands. The guards on the sides changed their aims from Zero to the intruder, their reactions delayed as they wondered what where the two guards outside doing.

"What?"

_PAN_

Two shoots echoed simultaneously, the guards fell. Kusakabe, his Katana unsheathed launched himself on Zero. The blade was blocked in midair by Zero's hand, a metallic sound coming from his right palm.

"Like Clovis, unable to know when to retreat, sharing the same fate."

_PAN_

_'that was unneeded.'_

_'I'll trade your life for dramatic any day.'_ C.C answered mentally as she moved the falling man left arm away from his holster. Zero nodded dimly and discarded the man blade unharmed, expecting such possibilities he had placed a small metallic plate on his right hand. Then he turned to the third alive person in the room.

"Are you shocked Li Britannia?" Euphemia did look uncomfortable, she starred at the bloody heads before looking at the shadow by Zero's side then at the masked man himself. The light gave an eerie feeling to the two dark forms.

"I don't approve killing Zero, no matter why it's done or who die." Zero smiled with mixed feelings as he took his transmitter and gave the order to Oghi and Kallen groups to go on. He would have liked to speak much longer with the girl, to make sure she wouldn't become again one of his greatest mistake and his true first ultimate failure. No, Lelouch wanted to do that but Zero couldn't afford it, not now. Zero walked toward the security system, the rebels had only a limited control of the system, he inputted the password and obtained full control.

An unexpected sight greeted him, three people moved together trying hopelessly to advance unnoticed, a fourth person followed them slightly behind. Zero whistled in amazement.

"So Cornelia herself threw herself into the lion's den, siblings bounds are truly terrific."

"Sister..." He paid no mind to the faint words of the pink-haired girl, her pale skin was getting clearer by the second. Zero turned to Euphemia and approached his mask to her face. Without any warning he took her by her waist and proceeded to exit the place, the other hooded person checking the way before them.

_'I thought you were going to have a nice chat with her-'_

_'change of plans, Cornelia is gonna make a mess unless I put a little show.'_

* * *

"We're here to rescue you..." Oghi continued to say smoothing words, hoping that the students wouldn't panic as the corpses of seven elevens members of JLF laid on the ground. The fact that it was elevens saving them might create unpredictable reaction and the ex-teacher was sure they wouldn't be able to control anything if they all started to run madly. He had to make sure the tension would stay at a bearable level.

"We'll get you to safety now." Yoshitaka took the lead and Oghi sighed in relief as it seemed his concern was unneeded. At least it seemed the students had some sort of discipline, he really hadn't know what to expect from the youngsters. On that note he wondered where the teachers, the staff and the directors were. Only the students seemed to be here, maybe he should report this to Zero.

"Zero, Zero, Oghi here." he whispered as he activated a transmitter much smaller than those they used before, another 'gift' from Zero.

"Report." came the calm voice of his masked leader. Thinking of it, those JLF members had been almost completely surprised by their arrival, Zero's indication about how to avoid the camera before the signal was given had been flawless. Just how did the man knew all that?

* * *

"The teachers will be fine, continue on with the plan." Zero answered smirking under his mask, from the layout of the school and the information from camera, the woman would find the room were the staff was located and would be forced to deal with the guards before passing through. Really those terrorists that invaded Ashford must have planned things in a hurry, they were spread too widely and had relied far too much on the camera to be warned of danger.

"Will you let me down now, please?" Lelouch looked at the annoyed face of his half-sister, she wasn't struggling but was making sure that he understood how she felt at the forceful comportment of his captor. He let her down, wondering once again if knocking her out wouldn't have been easier, it was troublesome having to watch his every words as to make sure no sensible information would be leaked. At this moment another call made his transmitter flare to life.

_"Zero!" _Kallen's voice over the radio was most recognizable, as well as the sense of urgency in it if the constant sound of exchange of fire was anything to go by.

"Situation?"

_"The enemy has taken some sort of turret machine-gun, they're holding the first floor of the main building. Can't use the school's main entry without-"_

A panicked female shout echoed on the line as Kallen seemed to interrupt herself to deal with a new situation. Zero heard her telling not to shot, Tamaki protests and many things drowned in the noise of whatever was happening on the other end of the phone. He looked up just in time to see C.C thrust her arm into yet another member of the invaders, according to his calculations there shouldn't be more than six or seven of them remaining. Finally Kallen's voice came back.

Zero silently listened as Kallen explained the recent events while his feet led him toward Kallen's group. It seemed a student hadn't hadn't been able to withstand the pressure and ran away, not realizing she was heading straight in the fire range of the enemy. Then another student girl had gone after her and shocklingly shoot the running student in the leg before disappearing in the garden while Kallen retrieved the fallen girl and the rest distracted the enemy and their damn fast-firing machine.

"What did the second look like?" After Kallen answered he wasn't surprised to find out that it was Anya, the girl visibly doing her job very well. Now... "This is an MTMG-471, an early anti-Knightmare machine that got soon outdated by better armor. Take a few men with you and enter the main building by the underground maintenance passage on the side right building, this machine can cover 270° degree but that is. It should be placed to protect the garden from attack, thus attack from North-West inside the building and all will be fine."

_"Roger, what about the girl? Shall we try to retrieve her now? and what about her weapons?"_

"Let her go, I know who she is and why she's here. Avoid confrontation with her, now go."

_'Here.'_ Zero turned off the communication as he received C.C's advertissment. His accomplice had stopped before an intersection and only Zero and Euphemia steps could be heard in the dark halls. Lelouch had made a point to keep the place in darkness for the duration of the operation. It was a too easy way to give one own position, especially with britannien forces that were without a doubt watching attentively the campus. Then Zero stopped and gestured Euphemia to do the same, severals seconds passed in absolute silence. Each parties aware of the other yet staying immobile.

"Hum..."

"Cornelia li Britannia, I didn't expect to meet a fierce woman like you on such a... shadowy battlefield." Zero proclaimed before Euphemia had anymore chance to open the confrontation in their disfavor. A moment of silence followed which C.C used to place Euphemia between her and Lelouch, preferring to be sure that the viceroy wouldn't dare attacking her warlock in such conditions.

"Why are you here?" Cornelia answered tensely but understanding the uselessness of pretending not to be here, however she wouldn't come out of the corner and become an easy target that easily.

"Living as the shield of the weak, what else?" He answered in an amused tone.

"Killing my family of course." The woman growled. Zero's voice became cold.

"It's a nice idea, don't you think Euphemia dear?" The masked man said while making the safety of his gun click.

"ZERO!" Cornelia jumped out of the corner ready to fire, her face barely visible still showed an unrestrained furor. C.C's weapon was already aimed at her face before the idea of pulling the trigger could enter her mind.

"Princess Cornelia!" one then two more interference popped out from the corner, Guilford's glasses falling as he headbutted C.C's hand and rose his own weapon. The hooded woman used the force projected by the knight to change her target, without hesitating C.C fired an aimed shoot at Cornelia's chest, herself having leveled up her weapon but was unable to fire in fear of hitting Euphemia. Darlton himself jumped above the diagonal body of his fellow knight trying to push the cloak-less dark guard of Zero and knock out the masked man.

"Fools." Nor Euphemia nor Zero had time to react as C.C used her free left arm to grab the man twice as big as her by the neck and throw him mercilessly out of the building by the windows. "Try again and you're dead." Most of the spectators of the scene looked in shock as the small hooded woman resorted to bloody violence coldly.

"Sister!" Euphemia leaned forward, stopped in her honest effort by the firm arm of Zero watching the scene silently. "Sister!"

"Euphie..." Cornelia tried to suppress the blood from flowing out by pressing her hand onto her wound and avoiding any sudden move.

"Enough. You're just a bunch of trigger-happy fools." Zero voice finally rang in the air, visibly annoyed by the situation. Guilford didn't pay any attention to him as he was dying to go to his princess yet facing an heavy obstacle in the form of a gun pointed at him from a mere meter away, if he had paid attention he might have remarked that only the woman had fired in this mess. "C.C what are you?" Zero's voice reflected his own thoughts as the woman pushed him backward, walking forward toward his princess.

"Stand back!" Guilford shout raising his gun which he dropped when the woman slashed his wrist with a military knife. The hooded shadow continued to advance mercilessly, Zero leaned forward still holding Euphemia whose feet were beginning to refuse service as the scene further descended into chaos. Darlton clenching his teeth tried to climp back up, away from a two floor fall by only the strength in his left arm. His right arm having token a bullet earlier when rescuing the staff from elevens couldn't help him anymore, his blood continued to flow from the wounds created by the shards of glass.

_'What are you doing!'_

"It's only natural, I told you" the hooded woman said answering the mental call of her companion "I won't let you die, thus I cannot let her threat you and not pay the fine." She concluded without remarking that Cornelia was already in a death-threatening state.

"C.C." For a reason the two royals and the two soldiers couldn't understand, Zero seemed shocked, shocked by the realization of something. When the masked man stopped moving and Euphemia let a pained gasp as his hand clenched too tightly on her arm, they knew something bad was going on. Lelouch thoughts were functioning at full speed, refusing to come up with conclusion he would be forced to make. Lelouch guess, knew and understood already, but he couldn't accept it. He would never accept it. Guilford replaced himself before his princess triangular chin drenched in sweat.

"Don't touch the princess! If you need someone to take you on then I am right here!" He didn't realize in how many multiple senses his sentence could be taken, thankfully right now no-one cared. All were more concerned by the woman reactions as she laughed and grabbed the blue eyed man by his upper right arm, then spoke with sensual yet frightening intonations.

"Why, that could just work Oh faithful Knight." She clenched tighter her knife on her right hand before moving it up. Lelouch tried to move forward, he couldn't let that happens, he couldn't allow C.C to become like that!

"Stop!" Something pulled him by the neck and prevented him from reaching her, an arm passed around his neck restrained him and prevented him from stopping the growing madness. "Drop your weapons!" He recognized Jeremiah's voice, the man putting his weapon on Lelouch's head, the light turning to life at the same time.

"Oh, Orange-kun." C.C said with a terrible smile that Lelouch could feel between the deforming green lines under her hood. Lelouch, Jeremiah, Darlton, Euphemia and Cornelia starred in horror as the knife danced in the light uncaring of letting eyes witness the event. Mercilessly the blade teared apart Guilford's flesh on his right shoulder, the man moaned as the blade stopped by the bone and C.C twisted the blade turning it inside and cutting the nerves. Then deliberatly slowly she pushed the blade down breaking the bone, ceasing the connections between the arm and the rest of the body.

**"LET ME GO!" **With a loud sinister splashing sound the right arm of the knight fell onto the ground as Zero finally used his power to break free from Jeremiah's hold, knowing it was already too late yet unable to repress his will to save his beloved's mind from going further down the dark path in which she was falling. "C.C!" he took her arm holding the knife.

"Zero." C.C said coldly to remind him of who he was at the moment. Lelouch froze and felt his alter persona crush his feelings and force his mind to be in control. Zero was an absolute leader, his ultimate and greatest lie strong enough to become truth.

"Good work." He said calmly while releasing her arm, Zero was the one here and Lelouch could do nothing to stop it. "Now sir Jeremiah I believe you should take care of our poor Viceroy who is going to pass out at any moment. By the way" he continued while taking again hold of one of Euphemia's arm. "The little princess will keep me company a little longer. I wouldn't want the whole army to storm out the place and kill the poor innocent students being freed as we speak."

"Wait-"

"Not now Gottwald, not now." Zero interrupted the soldier tiredly, pushing him aside while dragging Euphemia with him. C.C passed by Jeremiah and the plat of her knife passed on Jeremiah's wrist holding the gun in warning. The Geass order still in effect prevented him from going after the masked man.

"Gott-...Prot-" whatever Cornelia tried to say was interrupted as a flow of blue hairs passed by the place in a flash.

"Lord Jeremiah I'll rescue the princess, take care of her highness!" Jeremiah nodded absently, not even thinking of going after the masked shadow as he knew Villeta wouldn't have enough strength to take care of the three variously wounded people.

"Lady Marianne." he whispered the name again, hoping to find strength in the evocation of his first and eternal master.

* * *

Kallen had the idle thought of making sure her mask wouldn't fall as she herself followed the big turret-like machine two floors downward. It had been going too well, managing to take out three of the four soldiers with only Tamaki taking a bullet in the ass. Then the four had tried forcefully to change the angle of the machine-gun enough to fire at them, seeing that they had all rushed onto the big machine.

Why the hell was such a thing so freaking light? The question was probably on everyone mind as Kallen, the soldier and Sugiyama passed by the windows along with the mobile turret. The trio touched the ground with a terrible metallic sound.

"You fine Kento?" Kallen asked balancing in the air and her hands clenched onto the cylinder of the machine.

"Think I broke an arm, you?"

"Fine I guess." She released the cylinder and jumped down, stumbling into the Japanese brown uniformed corpse. Being right in the machine he hadn't been so lucky as them, thankfully the darkness prevented Kallen from seeing what must be a bloody mess. She reassured her companions above and went on helping Sugiyama whose poor arm was struck by one of the 'leg' of the machine. "that won't heal anytime soon." she noted grumpily.

"Nah, we got it lucky tonight" he commented as Kallen helped him out of the metallic thing, groaning under the pain. "no death on our part so far, don't complain about one of two injury."

"You aren't the one who got a freaking painful piece of lead in your lower parts!" a scandalized shout countered, the red and blue head exchanged an amused smile at Tamaki's misfortune.

Soon afterward they regrouped with the people guarding the students, finding whispering a song with a blonde big chested student leading them.

"I heard Ashford was a slightly eccentric place but I didn't expect that." Inoue commented to Kallen with some perplexity. Kallen nodded, perplexed before the control the school student's president had over the rest of the students. Even though she had been a bit posing as a student in the school she didn't know just how the girl managed that.

"I really don't understand those britannien people anymore." she grumbled under her breath.

* * *

Zero closed his transmitter after Kallen report. Oghi's group was already at the back door, he already gave them the code to open the door. In a time between two to four minutes, the two groups of students would have escaped safely. Having them leave at the same time was something he had chosen, both to make a stronger effect and reduce the possibility of britannien sending troops inside. For now...

"Let me go! I've to go to my sister!" The pink-haired girl struggled to escape his grip, he sighed in annoyance and grabbed her other arm, bringing her face close to his mask.

"I can't let you go yet, don't act like a spoiled brat now and understand the situation. You being here is the only reason the army didn't send Knightmares crashing the place, as long as they don't know you're safe none of the people taken in hostage here will have to die." he said in a calm but steely voice.

"You mean I'm safe with..." Euphemia's blue eyes glanced on the side toward the hooded woman, the sense of security that Zero had created for her had been ruined by C.C's actions at wounding Cornelia.

"You're SAFE. it won't take much longer anyway so just deal with it for the lives of those dragged into it." Zero said advancing forward, it was impossible to say if he was annoyed. Nor his voice nor his posture betrayed his emotions anymore, the essence of Zero making sure to repress any hindering emotions that he should feel. A state of mind achieved by focusing to an extreme degree, purging all but what the Man of Miracles needed.

And so, even C.C actions wouldn't shake him now, not as long as Zero was needed. Those feelings could be used soon, very soon.

"It's time." he said in the outside air, loudly enough to be heard. He hoped Anya had managed to come. As soon as his words were spoken a small shadow moved out from a nearby bush, rushing and separating Zero from the captive princess. The masked man didn't opposed much resistance to the small girl who whispered the princess to run and was thankfully obeyed without delay.

_'Act your role, no more.'_ Zero warned his accomplice, unwilling to let ruin the act played here. Nodding C.C adjusted her gun toward the two running frames, Zero placed a hand on the barrel speaking once again loud enough to be heard from the two girls.

"No need, we've already gained enough time. Let's go." They left the place, needing no further to concern themselves with the princess. He had told Anya where to go to make sure they didn't stumble upon his black knights, plus if they meet britannien somewhere her authority as a Knight of Six would make sure to keep the plan in its tracks. Now only the final act was left, the birth of the black knights.

* * *

_"It's true, t__he school's staffs had been confirmed to be safe and sound too and _from what we can see the students who had been taken in hostage are safely exiting the place where they were held. However it doesn't look like the britannien forces were inside the place, fights seems to have progressed inside the place but it's unknown what role Zero have in it. The masked man still unseen since he has been seen wandering in the place, the Viceroy and the army haven't made further comments either..."

The report of the news broadcaster was interrupted as projectors within the school came to live, all their lights directed toward one single place where people stood. The speakers of the school flared too life seconds after, at such a high volume that the spoken words could be heard from five hundred meters away. Diethard Reid commanding the camera on the site ordered to zoom onto the scene, excitation at finally something happening, something he foreseen as enormous.

Zero, the masked man was here in all his darkly attire. Standing full of powerful confidence, masked people wearing some sort of black uniform standing in V-shaped formation behind him. Then Zero spoke, the frightening might of his voice amplified by the many loud speakers dispersed around the academic complex.

"People,** fear us, or rally us as you see fit**. We are the Black Knights, We of the Black Knights are the sword and shield of those lack of the power to fight, regardless of whether they are Japaneses or Britanniens. Tonight the Japan Liberation Front meaninglessly took innocents civilians britanniens hostage, then planned to mercilessly slaughter them all. It was a violent and meaningless act, therefore they have suffered retribution. Just as former Viceroy Clovis was punished for ordering the slaughter of countless elevens to hide his dark secrets, we could not stand by and let such horror to happens. He paid the price for his actions as did Lieutenant Kusakabe tonight, I'll not deny battle on a fair and level field, but nor will I accept a one-sided massacre of the weak by the strong. Only those prepared to die should choose the bloody path of killing! Wherever, whenever oppressors abuse their powers by attacking those who are powerless, we shall appear again. No matter how mighty or powerful our opponent seems to be!** We are the nightmare of the powerful ones, their greatest fear! Those of you without it, come and rally behind us**. We, the Black Knights will be the ones standing in judgement of this corrupted world!"

_Yes, that rage consummating me, that guilt and that horror. I can channel it, I can transform it, I am Zero! This furor will strengthen my resolve and spread terror over those needing to learn what true fear is!_

_I am the dark Messiah, the Devil itself coming to change this world once again! I create Chaos and call upon destruction, this world again shall-will change!_

_I am ZERO!_


	18. Chapter 17th : Blackdoor War Prelude

**AN : There, another chapter for the story. A bit short but then again I can't start the action till next chapter, also noticed I got much fewer reviews for last chapter which surprised me. I would have thought among all the chapters done so far, it was a chapter which was worthy of a debate, seems I was wrong (well whatever).**

**I realized here that Lelouch is using Britannia's logic in order to chose his followers, ironically much? On a vocabulary note : ****Requiem gambit = Xanatos Gambit (since Xanatos don't exist in CG timeline)**

**Have a good reading and as usual, write some reviews.**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Seventeenth**** : Blackdoor War - Prelude**

_There are many form of war, many battlefield._

_I realize now how inexperienced my old me was,_

_too many of my plans were foiled,_

_now I know how to make all paths leading toward my win._

_No matter what they do, it will only further my goals,_

_Now oh my servants, dance my tune and make your choices._

_Follow your hearth, for I'll always welcome it._

_(laughter)_

* * *

Suzaku sighed while working out, Monday, four days since the events at Ashford and it seemed like terrorism was turning into a national competition. Not counting Ashford there are had been twelve acts of terrorism on the news and he knew that four more attempts had been stopped so far. Plus an eleven private most likely didn't have access to critical content, so it was very possible that more attempts had been kept silent.

The brunette had heard rumors, courtesy of his room still placed by the public room, that the high-ranked officers were growing worried at the recent events. A few of the attacks had been classic terrorism but... some not. In some cases the targets had been strategically well chosen to cripple the military. Two attacks particularly impressive, the first had been the partial destruction of the only factory producing part pieces for Knightmare in Japan which would cause a shortage of repairs pieces in the area for at least a couple of months. Even if they could still import spare pieces it would cost Britannia military quite a lot of credits, the worse in it was how the terrorists had proceeded. They had disguised as Britannien soldiers covering their faces with helmet, bringing nothing but handgun. Coming the Sunday when there was very fewer people, then without a shoot even being fired they used the on-site sakuradite to blow up the production area and left in the following chaos while impersonating soldiers arresting terrorists. Neat and flawless.

The second attack hadn't go so smoothly but had show an unprecedented level of coordination with three different resistance groups hit one after the other. The first group had used a live presentation of a festival to distract the nearby britannien forces, throwing smokes and sending threats over loud speakers then escaping at the first sign of opposition without seemingly having done anything, until the electricity of the district had blacked out with a few well cut cables. Then the two others groups had 'attacked', one stole twenty trucks of various medicines then the third took some losses but successfully took over a tons of infantry weapons from a then weakened barrack whom personal was left after the first attack had left to the second.

As for the government the situation wasn't shinning, persistent rumors hinting that the viceroy had been gravely wounded even if that was strongly denied to the press. One day after the Ashford incident, the investigation on Zero suffered yet another setback, a fire happened the department organizing the search. A computer had seemingly overheated and some spark started a fire, to which the sprinklers responded, then one sprinklers broke and water poured in the place putting out of commission every computers. Then yesterday again while the people were working on repairing the damage the roof broke loose and block of concrete fell in the room. No traces of sabotage in both accidents were found, then rumors erupted about how anyone dealing with Zero was cursed.

Suzaku didn't believed such things, Zero was a man, a cunning and audacious one yes but still a man. Sadly some britannien believed in it and it had the unfortunate consequence of making some of them leash their... fear(?) upon the elevens around them, especially the honorary britanniens. With how things were going there was little chance for tension to ease between the two races until Zero was caught, or until he caught him he added as an afterthought.

The green-eyed teen sighed once again and let himself fall on a bench, taking a bottle of water to re-hydrate his body after the exercise. He glanced around, tomorrow the files for his transfert would be complete and he would leave the barrack to use the locals of the military research division, allowing him to be with the Lancelot full time. The thought made him smirk in derision, just how useful had he been during the trouble at Ashford? During the whole night he had been watching the scene unfold at the feet of the Lancelot, clenching his fists before his powerlessness. He could have abandoned the Lancelot and tried to get in the place but there had been the possiblity that the Lancelot would be needed. The campus interiors was Knightmare unfriendly but the Lancelot could have torn apart the wall and perhaps save some people, instead Zero had done all the work while he had done nothing.

How relieved when Lelouch had called him to tell him that they were safe, how hard it has been to hide his frustration to his best friend, not to let the guilt of having done nothing affect his voice when he responded. What should he have done, what could he have done? How could have he rescued them? The plastic bottle in his hand was beginning to break from his grip yet his eyes fixed to the ground paid not attention to this detail.

He had no answers, he hadn't know where the hostages had been nor that Lelouch and his feminine family had left the place early in the incident. Now Lelouch and Nunnally were in hiding to avoid the investigation at Ashford which threatened their covers. Suzaku hadn't even see them yet, so many precautions Lelouch was taking.

"Private Kukurugi." Startled, Suzaku raised his head toward the non-aggressive voice whom wasn't familiar yet not unknown to him. His green eyes widened in disbelief as he recognized the man before him. "I request your and the Lancelot service for the day." the man called Jeremiah Gottwald said with a faint smile sending chills into Suzaku's back.

"At your service major." Suzaku answered with confusion written all over his face as the ex-leader of the purist faction requested the help of an eleven. Misinterpreting his expression Jeremiah answered an unasked question.

"I've already the authorization, we will strike at seven, plenty of time for the briefing."

"If I may ask major, what is happening that need Knightmares?" Truthfully Suzaku half-expected the man to put him back in his place saying how such lowly beings should just listen orders and follow. But no instead Jeremiah smile widened.

"We're refraining drugs from spreading and corruption from growing private."

* * *

"Master V.V." a young yet deep voice greeted. The pseudo immortal boy turned back to face the newcomer, his purple eyes trying to distinct the man before him. The lack of light, for this person detested light, didn't help his dark attire and his black hairs. Even his eyes V.V knew to be red were concealed by a faint mask on his face.

"I have a mission for you." The immortal said carefully, knowing he had to maintain his arrogant tone and manners. Kael was an ace, but a dangerous one. The very reason why he waited days before sending him.

The man nodded, his silent nature preferring to avoid words. "Don't disappoint me."

"It will be done." the dark form answered, answering the former sentence in favor of ignoring the later. His red eyes starred intently at the ageless boy, as if intrigued.

* * *

"Thanks." Lelouch said, raising his sunglasses in a charming smile as the delivery employee handed him a large box. The reinforced package must have brought many curious glances, Lelouch would have bet that the man thought of him as being a soldier in civil clothes. Good thing, now he just had to erase the house's owner memory and no-one would be able to track him. The two suits inside the package would have no doubt indicated just who commanded them, not that the creators would speak.

It took little time to wrap things up, his current residence was only two house away. He glanced at C.C looking around, even if she guarded him with the persistence of a stalker asking her for help to move the box would no doubt be refused. Smirking at the C.C's pretense of looking anywhere but at the box he pressed on, if he had more time he would have messed with her, however there was no time for that right now. Even without classes his schedule was terribly stressed.

"We are back." he greeted earning a triple answer of 'welcome home'. The luxurious apartment used to a vacation place for a noble living outside the city, it had taken a couple hour of going and coming back to get it but now it proved useful. Two roads away from Ashford there would be no trouble when school was opened again. The place faced a museum, reducing the possibility of someone spying them by the windows, it had an elevator for Nunnally too. Four rooms, a salon, two bathroom, the kitchen and three or two rooms they could arrange to whatever they needed.

"I'll help." A small pink-haired girl said her hands extended toward Lelouch's bulky box. The raven haired man accepted dividing the charge albeit with difficulty due to their size difference. He gently reproached his sister's curiosity when she asked what he was carrying and earned a crystalline laughter in return. Then he entered the 'planning room', closest place to the entry with two doors leading inside, Lelouch had chosen the place to handle his rebellion from home right when he had visited the place. Multiple tables on the side supported six screens for a total three computers, a projector and a camera rested on the right of the room, carefully placed so as to be two of the few visible items from the windows. On two walls maps had been pinned, a map depicting Tokyo had numerous marking despite having been borrowed from Britannia military less than a week ago. On the wall devoid of windows and door throne a large black curtain hiding a mural screen covering a third the length of the room, a single black and silver rotary chair awaited the presence of the masked man of miracle once again.

"You've calls incoming." C.C commented as a green light biped as Lelouch and Anya rested their charge on the ground.

"Two minutes." He answered inputting opening a drawer where Zero's mask and suit waited patiently.

"I'll be with Nunnally then."

"Feel free to do so." Lelouch answered, making sure to say that she was free to stay if she wished. True, he withhold some things when the girl was here but he needed her to trust him fully. The situation was at his advantage, yet one betrayal could cost him dearly even if it wouldn't checkmate him. He sat on the black and silver lonesome chair facing the camera, making sure his black attire was put correctly.

"You're online in five seconds, visual too." C.C said as she manipulated the computer handling communications. Lelouch could imagine the group of rebels anxiously waiting before an half-decent computer receiving the video feed.

"Greeting 'S_ons of Japan'_, I heard things went smoothly on your end." Zero said saluting the resistant group that blew up the Knightmares factory's chain, his voice being laced with a pleased, sinister, sensuality. He put his hands together and his legs on one side to give a relaxed impression. Lelouch felt slightly surprised when he heard a female voice answer him, however, he wasn't surprised when he heard surprised expressions coming from the other end of the line about his identity.

"Yes, I suppose you're the one who sent us this plan... Zero"

"Indeed, you brilliantly passed all the hurdle." He said clapping lightly his hands.

"What do you mean?" Asked another male voice holding hints of irritation.

"Calm down Kizu." the woman intervened before taking back her attention to her interlocutor. "It was a test wasn't it?" Zero head lightly moved in a nod although he doubted they saw it. Silence was acknowledgement in this particular case. "So what now?" The nervousness in the woman's voice proved that they were ripe to take. He gave his answer slowly, pouring intonations of the Devil's whisper in his words.

"I wonder... shall we make a... dark pact?"

"A pact?"

"Why yes, I'll grant you Japan in exchange of your... loyalty." His proposition was followed by moments of silence, their next words would tell him their decision even if they didn't know it themselves.

"... A moment, please." He grinned, he had won.

"Of course, do take your time." He put the communication on hold, bursting into laughter when both video and sound wasn't transmitted anymore.

It took lot of his time, it was a lot of work and there were many obstacles but... it was so fulfilling in some twisted way. Requiem gambits were always efficient since whether things worked or failed the outcome was always at his advantage. He moved to the map depicting Tokyo, caressing the paper with an almost loving touch. It had needed him to hurry, pull all-nighters in order to prepare elevens plans for elevens resistant groups he had little to none information on, both in Tokyo and Yokohama. Naoto Kouzuki and Oghi's connections proved very useful, he sent each group a different plan little before Ashford events hinting that Zero made the plans but not openly saying it.

Whether or not the Ashford events had happened only fastened the execution of those plans, even groups he hadn't bothered with had tried their deal. Each group were to do something that would damage Britannia's might or/and standing in the country, but even if they failed it wouldn't harm Zero's plans in the slightest. A few groups were stopped, whether by ineptitude or by betrayal. Either way only the one who would have pulled something would prove to be of his interest, also allowing to see if they avoided civilian casualty. Plus as a very nice bonus, in most cases he chose important targets enough that any spy inside a rebel group would have leaked the plan... thus it was mostly sure that no-one was a spy within the group that succeeded.

Now, he had to gather them under him and his ranks would grow much faster. Those in Yokohama, if they were malleable enough, would put such a ruckus that Britannien forces would gather here allowing him to draw those rebels in Tokyo... and preparing for a large strike. Out of the eleven groups he had furnished plans to, two had already accepted joining him and Oghi would check their members background. One group had refused, two others had involved multiple citizens and would have to prove themselves more to make up for it before he could consider them joining.

_'Call incoming.'_

_'Thank, let's enjoy new little Black Knights.'_

"...Zero, we've decided."

"Let me hear your answer then."

"We unanimously... accept you pact."

Good, five groups to go then he would see how Jeremiah and Euphemia had used the information regarding drug lords he passed them, his second and third Requiem gambit.

"I am pleased to heard that and... welcome to the Black Knights."

* * *

"Kallen!" Yoshida bursted into their warehouse calling the redhead girl reading yet another manual on Knightmare "your mother!"

"Which?" Kallen asked coldly not raising her eyes from the manuals, so little love she bore to either of the women she should call 'mother'.

"She's dead Kallen!"

Well, now that might be worth looking up from her book, might.


	19. Chapter 18th : Blackdoor War: Engagement

**AN : Got a reviews about confusing first and third person although I couldn't find any mix in the last chapter. For that sake I should clear the confusion, sometime the thoughts of characters are expressed in sentences, but actually they don't necessarily think that. It's more an expression of what they think and/or their feelings.**

**Lots of references to the two prequels in the second scene, I don't expect you to figure everything out (for obvious reasons of non-publication). Wanted to speak more about Lelouch's reasons for going again in the path of violence... but I couldn't bring myself to change the scene in order to fit it in.**

**We're in for a surprise, as a preview next chapter is an interlude to 'Blackdoor War' and deal with the events around the certain house of two siblings... guess who?**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Eighteenth**** : Blackdoor War - Engagement**

_Who is right and who is wrong?_

_Such discussion become useless when Geass is involved,_

_Opening the path to destruction is the key to one own's wish,_

_Thus I particularly savor this pouring storm of blood._

_They trade tools of dead and I bring them dead,_

_For only those ready to be destroyed should destroy._

* * *

For the third time of the evening, Jeremiah fired through a wall and roared in the warehouse. The sentries of the drug dealers's factory didn't even had enough time to warn their comrades, Jeremiah's Sutherland fired a volley of bullets over the place in warning as the roof of the factory broke under the weight of a certain yellow experimental Knightmare.

"All of you are under arrests under the charge of illegal traffics and corruption, any attempt to resist will be meet by instant execution!" The ex-margrave voice claimed through the speakers, the firearms and even machine guns presenting but a pathetic threat to the two giants of metal.

"Surrender and you'll receive a fair trial." The pilot inside the Lancelot added to the amusement of Jeremiah, the eleven boy said that and yet his arrival has made three people met their end crushed by the rubble. Two of the man, britannien he noted, fired on the yellow giants, the bullet harmlessly bounced on the metallic armor. Jeremiah fired.

_RATATATATATATAC_

"...Lord Jeremiah! it wasn't..." the boy shouted but his superior coolly interrupted him.

"As I said, any attempt to resist will be meet by instant execution." He switch off the external speaker to get the squad frequency. "Private Kururugi, they were warned... and you'll certainly not discucss my order in public."

"... Yes sir." Suzaku finally answered.

The major shrugged, dismissing the boy as he glanced over the place. A few members of the military already coming to make the arrests, for his Jeremiah's source proved that the police hadn't just 'missed' those activities per luck of the dealers. The leader of the three successful operation of the night left his Knightmare, noticing Villeta's machine entering the place. Wordlessly he observed a couple of soldiers handcuffing a protesting britannien saying that they weren't respecting their part of the deal. At least he did so until one of the soldier pointed out that they were military.

Jeremiah moved his gaze toward the crates, bunch of boxes containing millions in form of powder, a drug called Refrain able to make people remember the happiest past moments of their life. The empire's servant scowled at those tools of decadence and at the people making them. Almost every of his soldier had expected to arrest tons of elevens distributing their... 'product' to both populations to weaken the empire while putting money in their pocket.

In reality, only the first place had proved that true. The first attack had allowed them to capture many distributors, most being elevens. But then when they attacked two factory making refrains, over ninety per-cent of the people were britannien, the elevens seemingly forbidden to know the most important things.

"Major Gottwald" He turned to face the soldier who had spoken "There is a journalist saying he was present at the three sites, and he doesn't want to leave without an interview. Shall we chase him?"

"Hmm. No, bring him here, get those criminals in **military** cell like the others and get the place sealed and watched. Afterward the rest of you are free, I'll handle the reports."

"yes sir, thanks sir." answered the man, happy to know rest was coming soon for the major had wanted the three captures to be finished within two hours. Jeremiah smirked glancing around to make sure nothing troublesome would be seen by those nosy shit-makers, as the military lately called the journalists. Above him the Lancelot was still watching the scene waiting for order.

Jeremiah put his left hand inside the right side of uniform, a flat orange item hidden in the bulletproof chest. A chill passed the man's body as his fingers transmitted the cold touch of Zero's transmitter. Actually just a phone that could be found in the market, yet this one was his only tangible link to the masked man. Waiting for the journalist to be brought he recalled last's night events, events that led him to meet her highness Euphemia and borrow the Lancelot for supplementary firepower.

Yes, he had received the cellphone two days ago, charged, full with credits and accompanied by a note: _'have this powered on you at all time.'_ It had been signed '_0_', that and the orange phone made it easier to guess its sender_._ Then the next day, the masked man had called him, no name yet there was no way Jeremiah could forget his voice. Brief words to call him into a certain place, alone, but armed if he wished to. What a day it had been for the man, nervous at the slightest sound. Yet he never formulated the thought of warning his fellow comrades. He feared that tricking Zero would doom his chances to learn the truth forever, or worse, making Zero's haunting words a lie: _"The ones who will tell you... are her children."_

"Major Gottwald, we met again." A cheerful voice greeted the spacing out soldier, taking him back to reality.

"Mister Diethard." Jeremiah greeted back while hiding his shock at seeing the press man.

"Call me Rei. I feared misfortune has befallen you since our last meeting, but I see you splendidly recuperated." If the man tried to antagonize Jeremiah he got the short stick as said major plastered a polite smile on his face, noticing the man hold a recording currently working at his belt.

"The empire know how to recognize its loyal followers and reward them accordingly."

"Yet you've been degraded, and still you lead armed force including a prototype to hunt drug dealers. Just how did things turn out like that?"

"Crucials information ended up in my hands, allowing me to work on putting an end in those business which disgrace Britannia by daring to walk into the empire's ground. Someone had to do something, her highness Li Britannia applauded the idea. As my sources mentioned the possibility of Knightmares in criminals hands we used the opportunity to field-test this prototype as a safety precaution."

"You mentioned the Viceroy, I assume then that the rumor about her having been terribly wounded is but a rumor."

"Ahahah" Jeremiah laughted lightly "If I dared say such a story before her, I fear it would be ME who would be terribly wounded."

"I see" Diethard said pensively, Jeremiah sighed in relief. Actually it was her higness Euphemia that he had meet but good rumors about her highness Cornelia wouldn't hurt one bit. "back talking about tonight and you, it has been assumed you would be going after the masked Zero."

"Now now, there isn't only Zero around. I however believe those drug troubles benefit Zero."

"Do you insinuate Zero has a hand in the spread of Refrain?" Jeremiah waved in denial.

"No, I meant that that man managed to get his hands on some officers that had their hands in Refrain."

"Aye, corruption within britannia... army? You're making me days worth of news my dear major." Reid Diethard smile with a dark happiness.

"Not much point in denying it, we've already proof that the police had some deals with the offenders." Jeremiah barely hesitated, he had just avoided putting the army in a delicate spot however he was gonna alienate himself with all police forces for the rest of his career if he continued. "Then if Zero used this situation, maybe it wouldn't be so **coincidental** that the police department working on Zero's case burnt and got flooded the same day that some of soldiers working on the case were going to join them... I do not mean anything in particular of course."

"Of course." Diehard answered with a smile.

* * *

_"_Lelouch."

"What is it C.C?"

"Nothing, just felt like calling your name." Lelouch smiled indulgently, then turned back onto doing something to Zero's helm. His special helm was made to somewhat contain his Geass, not enough to stop it but enough to avoid using it inadvertently on an ally at least. Not that C.C cared much about it.

Instead she remembered that moment four days ago, when she had beaten those britannien. It would be a lie to say she regretted it, she would do it again if needed without hesitation. The green haired woman caressed the sheets of the bed with her head, she looked at the back of her contractor. As diligently as ever he worked on his goals, even in this mobile base less than an hour before the operation began. Contractor, with 'accomplice' that had been the first which by which she explained their relation on another timeline when an inexperienced boy freed her from a capsule.

How would the old her describe her now? She didn't know, or maybe she forgot it during the decades of impersonation as an entity that hadn't been her. Even so, some things didn't change and whether the Black Knight or the Britannien forces or anything else... no matter who it's, she could harm and kill them without hesitation. Lelouch never really understood that, no, he knew it but he didn't know the changes. The man and his bewitching purple eyes was different from her.

C.C rolled over the bed. It was the difference between them, C.C had been dragged down to a world of torture. Lelouch had walked into that world, crushing it while bearing its flag. C.C had no goal driving her on that could repress her loneliness, Lelouch had. It was the simple difference between a genius prince and an ex-slave transformed into the Gray Witch. The bed made protesting noises as she shook her head onto the bed as to exorcise the distorted images of her far-gone past. It was curious though, at some point she thought that Lelouch could go by without her, go on being immortal and do great things. Had she overestimated the man or had she underestimated the curse of Geass? The existence of '_The God of Madness'_ only gave her the beginning of an answer.

Yet, if Lelouch didn't 'lost' to 'immortality' but to the 'destruction' of Geass, C.C herself hadn't gone so far. The girl lost far earlier, to herself. Finally Lelouch came and managed to break her centuries-old shell bit by bit. And then, then she lost him believing him dead as the rest of the world had. But no, Lelouch once said that the 'Zero Requiem' was his ultimate lie, albeit for different reasons that the Knight of Zero imagined. No, Lelouch greatest lie was something much more, so insanely big that even her hardened self had been completely dumbfounded. It was a dual edged sword, it gave her hope as it seemed the world 'impossible' didn't exist for the true 'Man of Miracles'.

As a dual-edged sword, it became despair once again, when they 'died'...

Her first change of happiness had been robbed before it even existed, because when she realized it was before her, Lelouch had already chosen the path toward the 'Zero Requiem'. Thus she did nothing to hold on that first chance, too used that she was to loss. Her second chance, when that hope came and died, was equally crushed, and sent them both in dark abysses... She believed it was her fault, even if Lelouch had refused that very notion. Before that dark period her faith in her contractor powers were unlimited, an entity that couldn't be taken down, that would always stand up in the darkest times and come back. It didn't matter whether that belief had been right or wrong, what mattered was that she could have saved him back then. One little act on her own and all the suffering that followed for both of them could have been avoided.

So, this was the reason, because if she failed them both again she wouldn't be able to go on. Because of that she would not hesitate to annihilate anything that threatened Lelouch's live, especially right now that he was mortal, that a mere bullet could kill him.

So she would become...

_smack_

"Hehhhh!"

_smack_

"Lelouch... stop... that..." But no he wouldn't stop, Lelouch kept kissing and playing with her left ear, the rest of her body sandwiched between his body and the bed. The man grinning, refusing to let go of the struggling girl.

"C.C..."

"What?"

"Nothing, just felt like calling you." Damn the charmer, how could someone resist such a sensual assault both from a well prepared use of the tongue.

"I swear... Lelouch... since..." C.C began stumbling on the words as Lelouch put a finger on the entry of her mouth, continuing his actions all the while "you found... out... that weak... point you..."

Oh yes, Lelouch called it the 'witch charm' from the day he discovered that C.C actually had one unexpected weak point: her left ear. She hadn't know it herself, for no one ever tried to assault that part of her in such manner before Lelouch. The day her contractor realized how it affected her, he sparingly, preciously used it... but once he created a favorable opportunity for a full assault, there was no end to it.

"Huhuhuhu... Lel... huhuhuhu" Terrible, it was terribly ticklish and there was nothing she could do about it. Trying to erase that weak point with the code hadn't worked either, she just couldn't get rid of it. "huhuhuhu... damn you!"

"Already am I believe, Oh my fair lady. Thus I fear such proclamations will be all but naught, Thou shalt need to research new spells in order to save me, then finally thou might be able to damn me again."

Lelouch's nonsensical answer wasn't actually about the words... but about the movements of his mouth with C.C's ear captured inside. The poor woman found herself unable to hold back and laughed,laughed, laughed uncaring of the non-soundproofed walls.

"Damn you." C.C weakly said when Lelouch finally released her.

"Love you too, remember to put on your new suit." He said, quickly putting the top pieces and his mask before leaving the room.

Feeling exhausted C.C let her body lay lazily on the bed, and looked at the door through which the charming warlock had just left. Yes, for him and for herself, she would do anything to make sure those moments kept happening.

It was worth it, definitively.

* * *

"Nice." Lelouch heard Tamaki whisper upon his entry.

Zero walked into the Knightmare with the bearing of a war god, the new suit was no unrelated to this impression. The design was exactly the same as the non-combat suit he had, black with silver lining. However his stature was enlarged by an heavy armor shielding the masked man from bullets. Four firearms and two knives were stuffed into the suit, the dark cloak hanging by his frame made of a special material which could be hardened to form a supplementary protection against piercing weapons. The mask itself seemed unchanged from an outsider's eyes, as a connection between the two appearance of the man. Before Zero bearing mostly came from his posture and his words, akin to a messenger of deadly judgement. The present Zero looked like the judgement itself, promising an inescapable death to the guilty.

A few moments of silence passed during which all observed their dark leader attire with mixed feelings. Zero noticed the same expression upon the new members of the Black Knights with pleasure, for it would help them realize just how much the masked man was serious in their conflict against Britannia.

"herm...Zero, Isn't C.C with you?" Oghi asked noticing the absence of the woman always present by Zero's side despite her unclear relationship with the man.

"She has some issue with her new suit." The masked man answered, not bothering to hide the amusement in his voice.

"Ah... So It was that..." Inoue said with a blushing and dreaming look.

"What was 'it'?" Zero asked realizing his actions with C.C were most likely going to fuel some more rumors. However...

"Nothing!" Answered Inoue but he ignored the woman, his attention brought to the fact that someone had come by his quarters, which means...

"What happened?"

"Well..." The seniors Black Knights each looked troubled, except Kallen who bore an annoyed expression. Finally it was the redhead girl who spoke in an irritated tone.

"My mother died and they're making a fuss of it." She glared at Oghi. "I am coming tonight." The poor man looked at Zero for support, knowing he would be unable to stop Kallen to come half an hour before the operation.

"Which died exactly?" Zero asked confused.

"Huh, well..." Oghi stammered surprised that Zero knew of Kallen's multiple mothers.

"Kouzuki or Stadtfeld?" Zero asked tiredly. "And I believe we've an operation tonight and some of you shouldn't be standing idly there." He scolded sternly but effectively jolting awake many of the spectators. "Much better, now I disagree with talking about such things so close to an operation, so stop stammering every word. Which died, how?"

"Well, her Japanese mother." Oghi glanced at Kallen hesitating to continue but Zero stomped the ground with his foot in impatience. "It seems Mrs. Stadtfeld found Mrs. Kouzuki using refrain and well..."

"And the woman beat my mother to death." Kallen finished grumbling. She glared at Zero as if defying him. "I am coming tonight, definitively."

"...Fine, however you're acting as cover for Oghi's group, no protest." Kallen nodded, there was low risk in her new position on the operation but it was prime point to rescue elevens, so there was no way she could protest.

Zero clapped his hands to gather their attention. "Ladies and Gentlemen let's hurry, we've to be in position in eighteen minutes. Get Narate to double check if the Britannien forces have finished their business tonight.

"Already did Zero" Said man answered "Just as you said, they attacked three places and went back home."

"Good, let's the operation code-name Language begin!"

* * *

_"Infiltration is successful, we're in position."_

_"Good, Group O and R commence operation."_ Kallen clenched her hands onto her gun, Oghi leading group R into the emergency stairs of the Babel tower. The place was an illegal yet untroubled famous gambling den for britannien nobles, traffic of numbers prospering as fast as the roulette made money change pockets in this monument of decadence.

Tonight however the Black Knight would end all this, Oghi raised his hand and as soon as he lowered it everyone they busted through the underground door. A dozen of britannien guards looked at them in shock, not letting them time to react the Kallen fired rounds after rounds in the men. Her example was followed by her comrades, soon sending all opposition to the ground. Kallen took a deep breath as adrenaline made her heart beat fast, no slowing down the rebels quickly spread over the place, unveiling the sinister secrets of the place.

"Damn britannien." Kallen muttered, a feeling largely shared by her companions. The sight disgusted them, hundreds of Japanese people stacked up in cramped space. Most being girls whose fate was solely to become obedient puppets ready to be sold for whatever purpose their buyers wished.

"Come on, let's hurry." Oghi gently told the frightened people, their inert stupor frightening equally the Black Knights, showing a 'might have been' possibility of their life. "There, let's leave together, don't rush." Oghi continued to gently smooth them, his example followed by multiple people of the Black Knights. Kallen found herself doing the job too, Zero had insisted on it. Fellow women would make easier to control the flow of freed prisoner constituted mainly of the fair sex. For the same reason of controlling the crowd they had avoided telling them that they were free unless asked. As Zero had ironically pointed out, using their stupor and the obedience drilled into them allowed to easily lead them where the Black Knights wanted. Once they were secure they would be able to enjoy their freedom but for now speed was needed.

"Inoue down!" Kallen shout tearing apart the crowd to shove the blue haired woman out of the way, the redhead headbutted into an armed britannien. No doubt the man had used the crowd to try to take some hostages.

"Damn elevens!" the guard struggled as both Kallen and him fell into the mass of bodies, each struggling for the control of the gun in the man's hand.

"Kallen!" One the Black Knight shouted, unable to fire at the man between the mass of people. The two combatants struck between the legs of many people kept fighting, the britannien sadly finding out that the redhead hadn't a normal girl's strength. Kallen had to remove one of her arm from the gun to counter a punch from the man, the gun was slowly twisting toward Kallen.

Taking a breath Kallen raised her head backward just as a man passed the crowd of prisoner and locked his both hands into the guard wrist. Mentally thanking the unexpected help Kallen slammed her head down onto the guard's in a terrible headbutt.

_SLAM_

"Ouch!" The man went limp as Kallen let out a word of pain, her vision blurred by the shock fell into the stranger.

"New technique?" The amused man asked a dazed Kallen, offering her a hand that the girl took.

"First and last time I use..." She stopped frozen as her vision cleared enough to give her a look of the man's face.

"No fucking way." she heard Oghi said in disbelief, frozen in shock too.

"Hehe." The young man with brown eyes and brown hairs weakly said before falling down in Kallen's arms, his spent body betraying him.

* * *

The attack had completely token everyone in the building per surprise. The electricity had gone out and two dozens of people had rushed into the lower floors of the babel towers. Two dark shadows led the charge like deathbringer, crushing the effort to withstand the attack mercilessly.

"Good," Zero said in the transmitter inside his helm "The elevator are out, group O: I want three people blocking the emergency stairs. Group I report." Without slowing down, Zero and C.C proceeded to walk up the stairs letting allied Black Knights stared in awe before the stamina of the two heavily armored.

_"Group I here, we're ready to act at anytime."_

"Perfect." Zero raced up the stairs pleased that the plan was going well. Having a dozen Black Knights enter the place as policemen had proved easier than one would believe. The tower was gigantic but only the underground floors with the slaves and the upper floors with the gambling and casino's direction mattered. Britannia police had just received seventy-three reports of terrorists attacks in the town, a distraction that would suffice. On the down floors two trucks disguised with police colors would act as a decoy and allow to take out any zealous agent of Britannia's security.

"Good night Ladies and gentleman, believe I am truly sorry to interrupt your amusement." Zero claimed pushing the casino's door open as his voice echoed in the whole place, the electricity going back at the same moment. Almost instantly half a hundred bodyguards pointed their weapons at Zero.

Twelve sub-machine gun fired at the ceiling from three different position. Nobles, guards, employees and elevens waitress alike looked in confusion at the men dressed in police clothes. Some of them tore their uniform apart, revealing the still unfamiliar uniform of the Black Knights. Zero scoffed at their astonished expression, C.C placing herself before the man with what everyone easily recognized as grenades in both hands.

"Now I would like all of you to drop your weapons and get by the north wall without causing a fuss." The masked man said pointed a wall on the opposite side of the elevator and stairs. "For the Japanese in the fighting ring and the waitress, I highly recommend you to follow those three people... only if you wish to leave of course." From different reasons the britannien looked at each others, and the elevens looked at Zero then at their compatriots and then at the three designated men.

Five bodyguards raised their weapons toward the Black Knights in concert.

_PAN PAN PAN PAN PAN!_

The five fell without having fired, not even having the time to realize what had just happened.

"Without causing a fuss he said." Prononced the cold voice of the woman by Zero's side, already hiding back their guns in hidden place and catching the two grenades starting to fall above her head. A ridiculous speed.

Zero scoffed amused, it wasn't that C.C was that fast. Instead she had merely used her Geass to 'deny the possibilities of firing before her'. Truly a fearsome power for crowd control cases.

The display had been enough to dissuade more attempts, three Black Knights and Zero went into the direction area, letting C.C and six Black Knights make sure no one had any fool idea.

"My dear director, **give us the content of all your safes**."

"ah-... Yes mister."

"Thank you." Zero said amused at the disbelieving looks onto the Black Knights faces, he smiled relieved as his Geass avoided going runaway.

Not five minutes later the three Black Knights left the place with a bunch of boxes and went back into the hall, the elevens were already absent, the elevator taking the people out. Zero ignored the insults coming from the britannien groups and noted pleased that two of his men had pilled up the weapons on the ground and packed them into boxes. Wouldn't hurt one bit to have some more free firearms after all.

"Regrettably we shall now take our leave... By the way..." Said Zero as if he had just remembered something. "A fire will start in four minutes in the low floors, of course nor the elevators nor the sprinklers will work. But have no fear, it's easier going down a sixty floors of stairs than going up." Then Zero followed the rest of his Black Knights split among the elevators, enjoying the growing commotion within the britannien crowd. "Goodbye gentlemen, casinos are place I like so much I am sure I'll meet some of you again." True to his words, smoke started to rise as soon as the last elevator reached the lowest floor.

Alone with C.C in the elevator Zero busted in laughter.

"You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?" C.C commented with a wry smile.

"Oh, you didn't enjoy their faces when I told them about the fire? It was priceless."

"Nah, I prefer when you told that you would met them again, like the monster under a kid's bed."

"Witch! Zero is always ON the bed, never under." their communicators flared to life before C.C could continue their silly argument.

_"Zero?"_

"Zero here Oghi, status?" The masked man, instantly dropping the cool tone to adopt a professional one.

_"We've mostly evacuated everyone albeit with a surprise... _(a surprise?) _yeah but that is no problem, however the there begin to be many policemen outside. Also from one of the police communicator it seems that yellow prototype in coming here."_

"Oh? That boy is sure hard-working. It's fine, send the firework" Zero ordered to start the distraction, real fireworks fusees would be something the britannien would make confused and delayed... just long enough to escape. The elevator opened revealing a dozen of Black Knights waiting for their leader, three others using lighters to start said fireworks. "Let's go, no casualty nor dangerous wound so far. Let's keep at it Black Knights."

The ceiling shook as the group entered the underground large tunnel. "Look like the cavalry arrived too late." C.C commented. Zero nodded, it was funny how Britannia was so much helping them. The operation would have never worked so smothly if the illegals dealers hadn't provided them with the perfect mean to escape: the tunnel by which new slaves and uncommon goods were brought to the Babel tower. Whole trucks could pass without troubles.

The operation Language on the Babel tower had lasted for one hour and five minutes, ending up in the absolute victory of the Black Knights.

* * *

"Tamaki..."

"Huh, what is it Zero?" asked the startled man as his leader interrupted him.

"Would you care to tell me how those people will explain the possession of one-thousand credits bill, as banknote of this amount is not delivered by bank distributors in Japan?" Zero said very calmly, unaffected by the thousands gazes on him.

"Ah well..." Tamaki uttered scratching his head.

"So?" pushed Zero mercilessly.

"We'll give the money in smaller bills?" A Black Knight said helpfully.

"Ye-Yeah we'll do that." Zero hum-hummed at Tamaki's answer but didn't press further, and Tamaki started to search for the bills of other amounts.

"Hum..." Zero turned his head to face the new hum-humer, an adolescent girl who was holding money in her hands. She was visibly very embarrassed, then she bowed. "Thank you."

Zero smiled, the girl vaguely reminded him of Nunnally. She had long brown hairs like her, Lelouch bite his lip thinking how much again the image Zero as an aloof leader and dark figure would take some serious hits. Still he extended his hand toward the girl and gently stroke her head.

"Make the most of it." he said in a tone he himself could only describe as paternalist. When the girl raised her head, her smile was shinning.

"Born to be a brother I swear." C.C muttered behind him. Zero ignored her in favor of clapping his hands seeing movement around them had stopped.

"Let's hurry a bit please, workers are coming for storage in three hours and I would prefer to avoid meaningless troubles." He said that for indeed they were in a factory at the border of the ghettos, or more precisely in a big storehouse since the factory still worked at night. The activity went on again, many had rejoiced in the irony of using the casino's funds for the Japanese freed from the Babel tower. There was so much that many would be able to feed themselves for years if they were careful with their spending. As for the Black Knights, since the biggest one-thousand bills would make the elevens suspicious, the Black Knights could take them. After all one-thousand bills wouldn't be refused by arms dealers, or eventually corrupted britannien...

"A clothing factory was truly a good idea." Zero heard Inoue said while she helped someone change, again this was no dumb luck. Zero had foreseen that some elevens, especially the ones being forced to be waitress, would like to change clothes.

They weren't even stealing, there was a lot of one-thousands banknotes to spend after all.

"Ah Zero."

"What is it Oghi?"

"Well there is someone... we want to present you." Zero noted his second in command nervousness, unable to stay with his both feet on the ground. C.C didn't let it pass.

"Your girlfriend?" She asked with a tone befitting juicy gossip.

"Herm no... it's a guy."

"Your BOYfriend then?" C.C said with the tone of a child who had discovered that Santa doesn't exist.

"Errrrrrrr"

"C.C. please." Zero scolded the woman, albeit Oghi's expression of utter and absolute consternation made him take discretely a photo with his high-tech helmet. "Lead the way Oghi before she imagine worse things."

Nodding Oghi led the way, cursing the woman and Tamaki, C.C for obvious reasons and Tamaki because the man had been looking with shinning eyes on their direction. Maybe he should forbid the redhead from drinking beer?

"Zero!" Kallen waved in their direction with an expression hardly befitting someone who lost her biological mother mere hours ago, then he noticed her being holding down a man while applying bandages. The man struggle to get the girl off him was obliviously futile.

"Kallen, let's me off." the man mumbled plaintively, to his surprise the girl complied.

"I assume you're the one they wanted to present me." Zero said observing attentively the man whose body still hold numerous traces of beating, his brown eyes and brown hairs unable to find their ways through Zero's memory.

"Well, our family is deeply in your debt. It would be a disgrace if I don't even thank you properly." The man bowed "I'll never be able to repay your help, both in saving Kallen and me."

"No way?" Zero uttered, the words of the man triggering rivers of scenarios, all unable to explain how just that man was here. "Could you be?" The man looked surprised making a 'you know me?' face and then spoke in an amused derisive tone.

"Naoto Kozuki, at your service."


	20. Chapter 19th : Blackdoor War: Takeover

**AN : Back after two weeks of vacation without internet. Lot I could say but better keep AN short.**

**To answers the reviews, Naoto is say indeed to be death prior to Shinjuku (and here he's believed as such) but we no details nor body to show the evidence. However is the man here Naoto or is he an impostor? If he's alive then how? The answers will come in due time thus I'll not give you the answers here (the Author notes I mean).**

**The details of what happened to him in later chapters, the Kouzukis/Stadtfelds have enough to deal with at the moment. ****The 'Blackdoor War' part will soon reach its conclusion, two more chapters and we'll have an interlude before turning our eyes toward Kyoto, the JLF and Narita.**

**What left to say? Probably that messing with thousand of vengeful death spirits isn't good for one's own sanity. (ie : prologue and chapter 12)**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter Nineteenth**** : Blackdoor War - Takeover**

_I heard the rustle of clothes, his shadowy form move through the darkness._

_Did Lelouch realize how Zero seeks shadow wherever he is?_

_I am not too sure what Lelouch is, what kind of entity he became._

_Who is that man who swore to give me back my memories?_

_The boy I knew long ago, the boy who I've mostly forgotten, what has he become?_

_Then Kate approach, putting her hands on his dark costume, checking the toughness and the hidden weapons._

_Himself doesn't do that, when they goes out his mind is already on multiple plans I don't understand._

_He shook his head but Kate continue, unwilling to part. Only when she is satisfied does she let go of him._

_I don't understand what Lelouch, what Zero is, but seeing that I understand one thing:_

_despite all the rumors, all the power he wield, Lelouch is but a mortal man._

_He'll die if he is killed, it's that simple._

* * *

_'Why don't you use your Geass on him if you've doubts?'_

Lelouch glanced to his accomplice, his fingers tipping lightly the keyboard, the screen showing multiple photos of the man know as Naoto Kouzuki.

_'Can't you figure it? That much should be obvious to you.'_

_'Not using your Geass on allies huh? But if he's a traitor, the Black Knights would be in trouble.'_

The only male present hold back a sigh, his eyes looking around the room at the four women. His sister, the Knight of Six and the immortal played a game of card while Sayoko who had refused to play, was pouring tea and checking quietly the securities systems.

He ignores the chatter, his eyes starring endlessly into the photo of a man believed dead. That man who never appeared again in the alternate timeline.

_'I see' _He raise his eyes slightly, chuckling lightly as he notice Anya stiffening under C.C dark smile as she pick up a card. _'if you use Geass on him, you would use it to save people, the condition of destroying wouldn't be meet. Right?'_

He nods silently, his thoughts already beyond this problem. Truthfully the possibility that Naoto Kouzuki is really alive isn't nonexistent, he simply had to have survived his 'death' then Lelouch's attacks on the Babel towers changed things.

After all, it isn't impossible that in the other timeline, Naoto survived and died afterward without him or Kallen knowing.

"...I need to make a call."

"Brother, won't you ever relax?" Nunnally asked with a beautiful yet slightly sad smile. Lelouch flipped one of his cellphone open, heading to another room. He paused, then he smiled an ironic smile.

"A couple sibling need my help, I can't refuse that, can I?"

"Indeed, they lost their mother too." C.C said calmly, giving a somewhat awkward mood to the atmosphere.

"Hum... you lost your mother too Kate?"

"Both my parents are long dead, you turn Nunnally." C.C answered as she passed a braille card to the girl.

Lelouch exited the room, unwilling to get into a conversation which would undoubtedly worsen everyone mood. His accomplice comment however, albeit inappropriate, hold some shreds of truth. There were undeniable parallel in his and Nunnally situation ,and Naoto and Kallen current situation. This made Lelouch realize that consciously or not, he really wished for Naoto not to be an impostor or a traitor.

However, Lelouch Vi Britannia would be considered as a traitor by britannien. If he drew parallel between his and Naoto's situation, what does that meant?

He dialed the number he needed, pushing aside the dark thoughts.

"Jeremiah Gottwald, I need you to look at something for me... No, nothing that should get you trouble. Doesn't matter if you aren't alone, I need information on a man named Naoto Kouzuki..."

* * *

"Him? That man was executed weeks ago." Jeremiah Gottwald said, feeling that Zero could really have chosen a better moment to call him.

_"How do you know that?"_

"I was at the execution myself, ordering it under prince Clovis's direct orders." He glanced over his shoulders from the corner of the room he was, many people were busy setting the stage up. Cornelia and her Knights plus major Haddock had looked in his direction at the mention of the late Viceroy.

_"...When and What was the mean of execution?"_ The man on the other end of the line didn't seem to intend to end the conversation, Jeremiah was growing worried in top of nervous. Yet he didn't dare end the call, after all even if someone heard Zero's voice and by miracle recognized it as such, Zero had already prepared a good excuse for him.

"Well..." Still he hesitated, forcing himself to recall the events in which he hadn't been a major players. "I Think, pardon, it was a couple of days before Shinjuku. A shoot in the chest, we checked for his respiration afterward and he had no pulse. Definitively death."

The man on the other end took a long pause, barely one minute in reality but it seemed so much longer to Jeremiah. Major Haddock gestured toward him and he answered in the same manner, asking for another little moment.

_"Who shoot him?"_

"One of Clovis's special unity I think."

_"Bretan's unit?"_ Jeremiah whole body stiffened, trying desperately to avoid showing surprise both to his interlocutor and the people around him.

"Yes." Officer Bretan, the man who had killed General Bartley, the man who had killed himself screamin 'All Hail Britannia!' after that. "Did you... No, nothing..." He shouldn't ask, not yet. Still, if Zero knew the name of Clovis's special unit leader, the odds were high that he was very well informed of everything happening in the army.

However if so, why was he asking him about that eleven Naoto Kouzuki?

_"...you checked the body yourself?"_

Ah, of course Zero was asking him, the man surely knew that Jeremiah had been connected with the man at some point. Even in his question earlier 'How do you know that?' there hadn't been a hint of surprise. Though it could just be how the man was, as of now Jeremiah had no way to know that.

"I did, since I was there to confirm his death for official records. Then they took the body and left."

_"Bretan's unit took the body?" _Zero's tone had suddenly grew much more serious, sinister even.

"Yes, they also told us to avoid the face, in order to recognize him easily. I don't know why though. What exactly is wrong with this?"

_"..." _The man didn't answer, pondering on something. Then the soldier heard a strange laughter coming from the other end, one that sent chill running through his body. _"Jeremiah, you will lead an investigation on Naoto Kouzuki. That man is alive, alive and I want to know on whose side he is."_

Jeremiah was growing worried, so far Zero's information had only helped the empire albeit he didn't know why Zero bothered with drug lords. But now if he helped Zero on that, it would be helping the man and it would be easy to lead charges of treason against him. The man answered his question with a sly amused tone. On another note unrelated to Zero, Naoto Kouzuki was a man who Jeremiah thought had approached Clovis's secrets, what information would the man give to Zero if he wasn't an impostor? But for now...

"But... and on what charges?"

_"On the possibility that he might be Zero."_

"Whaaat?" He uttered, unable to repress his stupor at the man's brazen audacity.

_"Naoto Kouzuki prepared the plan to capture the gas capsule which led to the Shinjuku battle, he was the leader of the group who stole said capsule. He's an half-Britannien, half-Japanese. He seems to have died prior to Zero appearance but then had now been confirmed to be alive. Combine those facts and you've a very believable lead to Zero's identity."_

"This is insane." Jeremiah whispered yet for a brief moment he himself wondered if Naoto Kouzuki wasn't Zero before finding the idea absurd. Why would Zero ask how he himself survived and which side he was on?

_"Not at all, in order to search Zero I'm sure you'll be allowed plenty of lenience, especially with your recent successes. I want you either to find how the man survived or look at how much people try to prevent you from looking further... If he's really a traitor, the best would be if someone told you that he is, but that would too lucky I suppose."_

Jeremiah felt lightheaded, that Zero would be going to such great length to check on one man was beyond him. "No way, I can't do such a thing." he protested weakly, really put at unease by the situation in which he was.

_"You will, if you do well then... I suppose then it wouldn't be a bad time to let you meet Lelouch vi Britannia?"_

And then Jeremiah knew Zero had him, even if he wondered why Zero would give up so much just to check on one man the reward he offered was too good for Jeremiah to pass.

"Oh!" Then he realized, Naoto Kouzuki, Kallen Kouzuki. Of course, Zero had said that the man led the group in Shinjuku. In other words the man led what was most likely the first rebel group Zero had taken under his wing. In such a situation, an ancient leader could be a devastating thing if he spied for the enemy of the Black Knights. "Z-..." He barely avoided saying the other man's name, one instant he pondered on telling the man, but if he didn't then Zero's offer might go down to the sewers. He whispered very quietly, making sure no one would heard him even if it would look suspicious.

He saw Guildford and Cornelia glance at each others, then at him and knew he didn't have much more time.

"About the Kouzuki, the mother died yesterday..."

_"I know, so?"_

"The team on their and Stadtfeld case, they're planning to encircle the cemetery where she'll be buried. I think they hope to catch the girl." The man grumbled on the other end.

_"And Naoto will, if he isn't an impostor, will be with her. I'll take care of this, do your work well Jeremiah... Thanks, I shall remember this."_

The man hung up, Jeremiah starred at his phone for an instant, his heart beating wildly as he realized that now he couldn't go back. At the end of this some heads would fall, hopefully his wouldn't be among the casualties.

"Gottwald?" He turned to face Lord Guildford, starring at him with sharp eyes. "You look shocked, what happened?" A doubt, Jeremiah saw a doubt in the man's eyes. Maybe it was just his imagination however Jeremiah had been freed but he still had allowed Zero to escape with the girl Kouzuki. "Who was that Major Gottwald?" The man asked and Jeremiah noticed major Haddock not far behind, with her highness Cornelia also starring at him while discussing with someone else.

Jeremiah swallowed, his saliva difficultly entering his throat. If he told them the truth he would be doomed, probably taking Villeta down with him. Even if his consciousness wasn't clear with it, he had little choice but no rely on Zero's story and his attitude would be perfectly normal.

"...Don't tell the princess yet..." He began in a low tone, earning a curious look from both men before him "I might have found a lead."

"To what?" Guildford asked one hand adjusting his glasses.

"To Zero's identity." Jeremiah answered "My... sources... told me some curious things, I'll check them. For now don't tell her highness, she'll have enough to deal with and I don't want to distract her until I get some solid proofs."

And so, Jeremiah began doing consciously Zero's bidding, praying that the masked man would hold his part of the deal.

* * *

Naoto Kouzuki and his sister silently observed the coffin closing toward the already prepared hole. The two siblings stood a bit away from the cortege, one man acting as priest as Britannia forced even the burials to be under their customs, when they allowed the Japanese to be buried at all. The only other person was the undertaker standing by the grave. The Kouzukis's mother had lost contact with her friends long ago, when she married a britannien and then allowed herself to be degraded as a maid while the man remarried a britannien snobby noblewoman.

"Our mother really ended up alone." Naoto somberly commented, kneeling by a nearby tomb so as to give them an excuse to be here. Both he and Kallen were identified 'terrorists' by Britannia, coming here was already dangerous.

"She doomed herself to this fate when she choose to remain in the Stadtfeld house." Kallen mumbled irritated.

Naoto observed his younger sister, her blue eyes starring angrily at the coffin in which was their mother body. Neither of them had seen her dead, attempting to do this single thing might get them arrested. The man passed a hand over his hairs, brown like his mother, the hints of red hairs were too faint to be noticed.

"I wonder," he said as he clasped his hand in a prayer "if you and I understand well why she chose to stay in this house..." She turned to him angrily, her blue eyes unlike his brown ones. Both his own eyes and hairs were more brownish than red or blue, those colors were their britannien father features.

"She preferred to remain with this man, even though he didn't even stay in 'that' house anymore. She was foolish." And truly, Kallen was voicing her truth feelings. It wasn't a done to hide sadness, it was truly the expression of her rage and hate.

Naoto looked at the coffin slowly descending in the earth, the Japanese cemetery was a dark place almost falling apart. Every cemetery in the ghettos were like that. Like the woman whose corpse was buried here, some others had ended up here for the same fate, displeasing a noble up to the point where they were beaten up to death. Lady Stadtfeld had saw the Japanese woman at the wrong place at the wrong time, she had taken a poker from the chimney and had hit the woman in a rage even after the eleven before her died.

"That's why I wonder, since he wasn't here then maybe... maybe why she stayed wasn't for this man, but someone else."

"What do you mean?" Kallen asked adjusting her own hat, her expression showing that she didn't understand what her brother was trying to say.

"I mean... I think if she was here... it was to watch you..."

"No." Kallen answered immediately, turning her head toward the other side. Naoto observed her silently and continued praying while thinking of how they had ended up here.

He had no proof to support his words, he wasn't even in the house once lady Stadtfeld came. Instead he went to the ghetto and started a group of resistance with Oghi, back then Kallen had wanted to participate but he had refused because she was too young. Probably too, he didn't want to have his sister pale hands becoming red of the blood they killed. Fighting against Britannia had always created casualty, Zero seemed to have changed the odds but that truth was still what it was : truth.

The young Japanese looked at the grave before him. It was no accident that they chose this one to use as cover, the grave of another resistant who died under the bullets of the Britannien police. They had had to bury it secretly, with no family left Naoto was probably one of the very few who still remembered him and would pray for him.

Back when he had began the resistance he believed it wouldn't last this long, Kallen was a child not even ten years old. He himself was only five-teen at the time. He had passion back then, something others called genius too although he never felt like it. Those two things were what allowed such a young man-boy to be the second then the leader of their group. They did a few things, relived some fellow Japaneses with food or medicine, took down a few britannien soldiers and two corrupted officials. But in the end that had been their limit, when the gas capsule developed by Clovis came out, Naoto believed this would be either their end or their path toward greatness. He had been captured, another eleven defected for reasons he hadn't heard and that man had been killed by those he served. Naoto had barely managed to alert Oghi and make him save the rest of the group before he was caught by the military.

"Naoto!" Kallen gasped. Her brother looked up at her sister, then at the cortege where she was looking. The priest and the gravedigger had already left, in their place stood a single britannien man. A mature man a little under fifty years old dressed in plains clothes, old clothes too tight for him and yet he didn't seems to be bothered by it. His red hairs usually neatly arranged had been disturbed by their owner into a mess. Here before the grave he stood silently, the bright sun in the sky devoid of clouds shone on his skinny body. His blue eyes ignored all but the grave in which the name of a woman was engraved.

"Father." Naoto whispered, confused feelings filling him at seeing the lone man. The man who had been his father, who had stripped him of the Stadtfeld name when he died even if Naoto had never called himself Stadtfeld. Oddly enough, there was no hate in him, more like some sort of relief seeing him here, seeing that he cared about his first wife's death.

"What are you doing here?" Kallen had walked forward, uncaring of being seen or heard as she called the man. The man looked up surprised, then recognition filled his face and his gaze softened.

"Kallen, good to see you well."

"Kallen..." Naoto says coming up too afraid that they might get spotted. The elder Stadtfeld looked at him frowning, concentrated into an effort to identifiable a familiar yet alien voice.

"But..."

"Kallen please." Naoto pleaded again, hoping that his sister wouldn't cause further trouble, even or especially to their father. The blue eyes of the man widened, his mouth opening silently under an impossible realization.

"Impossible." he whispered, his whole shook briefly from the emotions erupting inside him. "Naoto... you're alive."

"...Yes." Naoto said, looking at the man feeling embarrassed for reasons he couldn't phantom.

"That's good." The man said quietly. Naoto observed with surprise the man smiling at him with a curious happy smile that he would qualify as... resignation. It wasn't his presence for the man wield such expression when he first saw Kallen too.

If anything, the mid-aged man seemed oddly at peace.

"Yeah... you've come to see mother?" Perturbed Naoto was left to say evidence. The man turned toward the grave and slowly nodded, still retaining the same tranquil smile.

"Couldn't bear to come in your noble clothes?"

"Kallen, those are the clothes I first met your mother with, pay them some respect." He scolded her like a child, completely unaffected by the condescend smile of his redhead daughter. "So, you survived Naoto." he continued, his gaze focused on the grave before him. Naoto acquiesced silencing his sister with a gesture, a sinister feeling slowly crawled to him forbidding him to let Kallen anger disrupt the scene. The man before them continued.

"You continue, right? To... fight?"

"Yes, we both do." Naoto felt many words hang on his tongue, many ways to explain what drove them, why they did this and would continue. Instead he said nothing more, merely looking at the man who kept watching the grave.

"I see." Was his only answer.

Then he moved, his legs taking him away from his two children at a quiet pace. A slow sad walk, he heard Naoto takes a step forward and smiled lightly. The boy grew up to consider situation more coldly than her sister, or maybe it was just that he wasn't around his second wife much. Whatever it was, he only had two more words to tell them.

"Don't die."

Naoto stopped behind him, he went on without turning back.

He walked for one minute or two before reaching the exit, the cemetery was depressingly large. The father Stadtfeld looked slightly surprised as he saw multiple elevens, no, Japaneses in dark uniforms and pinning down some britannien. There was no misunderstanding from neither side, it was easy to notice one or two britannien still being struggling to fire their weapons. It was easy to tell that they were soldiers, the others in uniform were obliviously the group of Zero's called the Black Knights.

'Their group.' the man thought.

Everyone looked at him, his arrival pausing the events. Too absorbed in his thoughts he hadn't heard the sounds of the fight. Those people observed him but no one tried to stop him as he slowly nodded and walked on.

It wasn't anything special, his face hadn't tensed at the events nor his eyes shone of fear or determination. Sad eyes of a sad man, resigned face of a resigned man. Pain itself can become an unbreakable shield once it reach a certain level, at a point where anyone falter before a sadness that is beyond their hate.

And so the man walked, slowly and unstopped. Somewhere in the corner of his mind he knew what happened there, that it was no chance for this event to take place there. Some words he heard confirmed his ideas.

Those britannien had been here for his children, and the others had stopped them.

Then Abel Stadtfeld made his decision.

* * *

Zero watched intently the screen on the portable television he had brought. C.C stood by his side, checking the surrounding of the abandoned facility in the ghetto from time to time. On screen the princess Cornelia Li Britannia raged started her speech to terminate the traitors to the empire.

"...will NOT stand idle while all the enemies of empires commit their wasteful acts and intent to corrupt the pillar of the Empire from within!"

Clad in her viceroy uniform, the impressive purple-haired woman stood against the crumbling state of the army and the police.

"While my attention was diverted the situation has turned into something I can no longer ignore! The Holy Empire of Britannia must stand united against the greater threat that dare to oppose our all-mightiness!"

After Jeremiah Gottwald interview the police had protested against the charges of corruption. This wasn't particularly new but then Jeremiah used his proofs to arrest some members of the police, in turn the police used some dirt they've to arrest some officers and then some people in the army did the same. With the unrest heavily present within the army due to Zero, Bretan's actions, Orange scandal, the increase of terrorism and many others things, the situation had escalated for the worse.

"All this corruption can no longer be tolerated and I'll personally ensure that those who must be judged and condemned will be under my watchful eye, EVERYONE and INDIVIDUALLY, regardless of their rank or situation in BOTH the army and the police!"

Cornelia's action was desperate but her hand was forced. The seeds of corruption had a whole decade to grow and now Britannia was paying the price for it, her actions would create her many enemies but it was the sole situation for her to stand while avoiding being crushed. On the other hand if she played it well she could gain tremendous support. Even so the amount of scandals that was potentially buried was too heavy an would utterly shatter the image of Britannia in Area 11... unless...

"To make sure no culprits shall escape the rightful wrath of justice nor destroy the needed proofs, A joined attack will be made into the 14th, 15th and 17th district to purge every last criminals that made their nest here, protected by the complicity of betrayers."

Yes, it wouldn't be enough to divert the attention but it would help regain some foothold, a complete and merciless attack on every group of illegal trades in the three districts renowned to the good place for Black Market. Drug, Slaves and Weapons dealers in priority, casinos too would be taken in the storm and wiped out. Babel towers and Jeremiah's actions would be dwarfed compared to such an operation. On the screen Cornelia was becoming agitated.

"Preparations are already made, I shall now declare the beginning of the operations that will wipe out this stain on Britannia's name."

Zero turned off the television and looked up toward the people assembled here.

"Now now, Didn't I tell you this would be interesting?"

The people around where weapons dealers, there were many in Tokyo but this one particularly interested Lelouch. They were the third largest yet best hidden, they were the one with strongest connections to the 'Kyoto group'.

"Once again Zero... what do you want?" They asked and Zero smiled under his mask.

"It isn't obvious? Fine then. I've come to grant you..." he paused savoring the moment, knowing full well that Cornelia's attacks was prepared on information he passed to Jeremiah. "...your salvation."

His voice was dark yet joyful, those people would never know that Britannia would have never come for them, as the army didn't know anymore that they existed.

And he received a positive reply, because his presence was so overbearing that no-one could refuse him.

* * *

Later he would laugh, his laughter would contain mad intonations as he would enjoy all those groups he wanted wiped out fight against Britannia and damage it. Britannia would suffer heavy losses, he has planned for that.

_"I am the harsh bringer of Chaos,"_

The criminal sector he didn't want would be crushed and everyone in Tokyo would have to turn to Zero or the JLF, attempt at independence would be crushed by powerlessness or Britannia.

_"I sing the death of Mankind, sending torrent of horror upon this beautiful world,"_

His enemies would destroy each others, allowing him to take control of every weapon trades within the towns, as well as the information within those places. The massive amount of money gathered by all those groups would end up funding the Black Knights, making them give up their money and make them ready to fight a last stand against Britannia had token but six days. Two for each district, Geass made such feats easily possible.

_"Under the veil of salvation, I behold deception yet my oaths are trues."_

No one would know that Zero had planned-prepared- the whole event, giving Jeremiah information on what Zero wanted down. Giving out the corruption, Geassing one police officer to arrest one officer of the army and let the situation explode. Use Jeremiah to make him suggest an attack while he and Haddock (whom did it without Zero intending him to) would reveal the situation to Cornelia, Cornelia woman of action would undoubtedly goes along such a plan to wipe out the corruption with raw strength.

_"I am always here, behind all your failures and successes, preparing your doom."_

Then he would arrive as a Savior for the people with connections to Tokyo and that could be useful, thus making them owning him.

_"I am Requiem, the shadow of death, coming in a veil of mourning to bury the rest."_

And last, he would stand by the last floor of Babel tower closed since the Black Knights's attack. Here he would sing the deadly hymn of death written by Requiem.

Here, he would watch the death-count rising, the mask of Zero falling from his face as the darkest parts of Lelouch, of Requiem, would surface anew.

The last concert of Requiem, the requiem of the Requiem where death feasted around, satisfying the terrible power of Geass with pure destruction.

_"So I am, killing your baseless hope, oh thou who hate Requiem."_

* * *

C.C observed her contractor singing the mad tune as the first reports of fighting arrived. Worriedly she looked at the man whom sanity was doubtful.

Right now she couldn't do anything but soon she would have too, even if she had to force him away from this rebellion, something had to be done before the truth madness was unleashed. Requiem couldn't be allowed to be brought back, not when his presence was synonymous to 'God of Madness'.

In those hours where many people lost their lives with corruption on both sides, she watched as her contractor paid the price for venturing beyond what should be seen, for wielding an absolute power.

Power corrupted, and absolute power, corrupted absolutely.

This chaos was the price was keeping the thousands dark spirits kept at bait to save a little girl and a long-gone mother. Such power had to be used, such absolute power was making Lelouch darker and drunk with power.

It was her, the one whose true name was know only by this madness, that had to get him out of those darkness.

_"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

Someone screamed outside and in echo, a dark laughter echoed through the place, full of madness. The travel back in time was a terrible 'miracle', C.C. destroyed all people who tried to kill Zero so as to protect her pillar of sanity.

"AHAHAHAHAHAH! AHAHAHAHAHAHAH! RAHHHAHAHAHAHAH!"

The man laughed, if 'love' might save the woman, the man whose power and talents were frighteningly stronger would need much more than 'love'.

"AHAHAHAHAHAH!"

His sanity had to be protected where time was limited and responsibilities sickeningly heavy, yet if she failed that man would lose to the demons of this world.

_"Geass is the power of Kings, powerful and mighty, yet, the King must walk the path alone."_

* * *

**Next Chapter : Darkness on both sides, before light is seen a swirl of destruction must follow. Two users of the dark powers fight within purest darkness, bringing the believers of justice and purity into the blackest night. **


	21. 20th : Blackdoor War Geass Clash

**AN : Ah, some of reviews were quite interesting this time, too bad there aren't more. As a side note I got a beta-reader for tDKR so you might get some decent grammar on that story (might!)**

**Probably the most painful chapter I had to write, checked it four times and it took horribly long to write. Once again I'll remind you dear readers that some of Lelouch actions find their reasons in the unpublished prequels (they made good progress by the way, [but unpublished]).**

**One reminded to have while reading, all that's happening is happening very fast, the whole chapter last for less than ten minutes in the story. That said, have a... well I won't say good because of the atmosphere but I hope you enjoy it anyway!**

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter ****Twentieth : Blackdoor Wa****r - Geass Clash**

_I've seen countless warriors, countless enemies and forces who thought themselves godly._

_Never their insufficient skills, nor their human puppets, nor their machine shield them from me._

_I am the assassin, the being whom will be forgotten by history, who will have never existed._

_What drive me is not the thrill of killing, nor money, nor fame, no simple but a much more primary urge._

_The will to live. __Irrepressible and powerful enough to make me survive through five thousands bodies,_

_I do not make difference between surviving and living as both are the same to me, I am but the weapon._

_I do not want nor hate to kill, I do it merely because it's needed to fulfill my objectives, my abilities to kill one are unmatched._

_Long ago I stumbled here, on this place which gave me the power to survive and I knelt to the immortal boy._

_But things have changed, no longer the boy stay unfrozen before my blades, the sweat before devoid is now all over his small body._

_I don't know if this power will stay, but that shall be no trouble, if I can kill him then I can take over that place. Nor Rolo nor Galael will stop me._

_I know all their skills, I know their powers, their strength and weakness better than them, they don't know my power and thus they shall die._

_But, if the boy cannot be killed I cannot afford such risks, I must not be killed by any means nor for any reason._

_Which is why I'll comply once more and annihilate the target, then we'll see how the boy react._

_No more delay, no more thought. The target is found, now is the time of action._

* * *

_BAM_

The attack began with no prelude nor warning.

Even so, with complete surprise and perfect precision the one-hit kill missed its main target, blowing up the chest of a green-haired woman. Why did she place herself before the man he would never know, nor did he cared. Neither did he try to understand why the bullet didn't pierce through her and into the man, time is too important to waste seeing though this act of fortune.

_BAM_

He fired again, the sniping riffle is ridiculously powerful, strong enough to pierce a Knightmare armor and kill a pilot. The second hit too failed to kill the target, an heavy metallic curtain fell over the windows as soon as the first bullet hit, his bullet pierced it but the target got away pushed by someone else. The man is no soldier but the two women are, one is now down and another is busy taking care of a girl in a wheelchair.

Only the youngest girl stand in his way, the assassin hear people screaming around, the two attacks in the walls and the sounds of the attack attract attention. Yet he isn't worried.

_BAM BAM BAM_

Three shoots, the electricity of the building in which his target reside is down, the box managing the electricity has been blew up along with the walls. The man isn't worried about police nor about causing a commotion, this common sense does not apply to him.

He shoots, not with the rifle but with long firearm with silencers, every lights in the street are shoot out and darkness takes over the place in this moonless night.

"..."

The assassin didn't waste time uttering his annoyance, in an impossible way the woman guarding his target placed herself in the way of the bullet. But he does not worry, the bodyguard is down with her chest destroyed by the heavy impact. The people around have fought before but they are manageable threats to him.

His Geass beat slowly, nothing here could kill him. The Geass of 'Unfaltering Survivor' told him the dangers and his superiors skills allow him to avoid them. Shrouded in darkness the man destroy few camera or recorders with his two firearms, the concept of distance is meaningless even if it's hundred of meters away. This is no Geass nor supernatural abilities, it's only the result of his own skills.

He jumpped down using a set of wires, as it's early autumn the night come late and with the recent tensions few dare to leave at night. Without slowing down he went up and cut open the window on a close piece,even reinforced the blade tore easily through the material and the assassin propulse himself in the small entry.

_Thump_

The assassin threw himself out of the windows, not even taking a single glance inside as his Geass burst in warning of impending doom.

_BOOOOM!_

The apartment is destroyed by a spiraling blaze, the explosive doing little damage to the structure but creating a terrible inferno inside the place. The man send a hook toward the superior floor, there he listen to the sounds around trying to find his preys among the shouts of the awakened people. Someone in the apartment behind him, he won't be noticed.

Kael Asgar jumps down, the brief but powerful inferno stopped and he can go after his preys. None are in sight in the street, he enter his prey's home again.

* * *

_earlier,_

The witch suddenly leaned on him, she was worried about him. Like him she feared that dark entity which was awakened and put asleep a long yet short time ago. He extended his arms above him to catch her falling hairs.

_BAM_

A rain of blood and organs fell onto the back of the chair, his world froze.

His mind restart working and he's pushed aside by Anya, the girl has already moved.

_BAM_

The metallic curtain made against intrusion fell and sealed the apartment from the outside aggression. Another enormous bullet teared the curtain and bounce on the table, tearing it apart, The scraps passing just above Lelouch's head. A brief instant all movements ceased.

"Miss Kate..."

Sayoko's words made Anya and Lelouch stare at the woman's body, her stomach blew away and digested bit of the pizzas they ate for dinner spread all over the place.

"What-What is going on? Brother? Sayoko? Anya?"

No one answered the questions of the blind girl who couldn't see the scene, for a couple of seconds following the realization, both Anya and Sayoko are too shocked to react as the fact of the green haired woman's death is set before them.

Lelouch himself felt his entire body shook, a terrible sense of loss running through his body that no logic could protect. He picked the laying body as his eyes changed and adorned the cursed symbol within pure and absolute crimson orbs.

"**Move!**"

The order flew, the cursed power fueled by an ever growing rage is no longer restrained, nor by his bearer or by his contractor. He rushed and pick up the girl in wheelchair, three pairs of legs escaping outside without bothering to close the door behind them.

_BAM BAM BAM_

Three sounds came from outside and the lights went out, as no people were outside their apartment, most must now have their attention attracted toward the windows, the group went forward.

"**Burn.**" A faint whisper was enough, the power passed through the living girls with him but thankfully left them safe. The presence of the Code of his contractor in his arms is just enough to avoid making his allies living torches.

_BOOOOM_

The same didn't apply for his target even if it's hidden behind two walls, the smalls explosives they had weren't here for that purpose but they should do just fine.

Everything, every incriminating proof would be gone in a blaze, even if for that they had to sacrifice their personal belongings. Lelouch dashed onward, a light wave of relief passing over him as he felt one of his charge regain some mass.

"Master Lelouch, miss Kate..."

"Focus, run and live." Lelouch interrupt her, he didn't know if she want to tell him that miss Kate is technically death or if she noticed his accomplice regenerating, but right now it didn't matter. The building has a backdoor, one of the reason of why Lelouch chose it in the first place, without the key the group opened a window and intended to use the new path to leave.

"Sayoko!" Anya's shout barely saved the life of the eleven maid, as the last still inside, the Japanese maid is forced to take an awkward pose in order to avoid four fatal bullets incoming her way.

"-Ugh!" But still she couldn't manage to avoid all the highly precise shots, Twice she's hit. Her right chest and her right leg send painful alarm from the back, one last bullet graze her left shoulder.

_Froushh_

A metallic star flew but is dodged by the man invisible amid the dark, three more stars lose themselves in the hall. With no sound the man is already gone.

"V.V Geass." Lelouch's whisper was heard but no-one have the time to worry about it.

Someone grabbed Sayoko and she feel herself lose contact with the ground and forcefully leave the building. For one instant where the world twirl around Sayoko, the maid lose her focus seeing her young master running at an amazingly fast pace despite being carrying three people. Sayoko and Nunnally in both arms and the corpse of C.C hanging around his neck. Lelouch spoke again in warning, coldly.

"Above!"

_PAN_

Multiple bullets hit the ground where they were but a moment ago, a single bullet respond the assault as Anya act accordingly to Lelouch's warning. The man blocked the bullet apparently with the barrel of one of his guns, two more silent shoots are fired toward Anya.

_Move! Move! Move! Move! **Move!**_

The command given earlier by Lelouch save her life but leave her no time to attack the man shrouded in black, the lights of that street hadn't been destroyed and soon the man's face will become visible. As that fact become apparent two dozens of lights are shoot down within three seconds, the street going instantly dark and the assassin landing on the ground as he restart the chase without a pause.

Then two red eyes settled upon the assassin, thirty meters meaning nothing to the overwhelming threat. Lelouch mouth's opened and the assassin's own Geass flare with an intensity drowning the mind of the black warrior.

"**Di-!"**

_WHIIIIIIINNNNN_

A sonic grenade exploded almost in the assassin's hand, sending torrent of pain in his eardrums while the sound-based shockwave shook his body, knocking him backward.

The man lived, the sheer intensity of a condensed sonic boom being enough to disturb his target before the command was properly issued. Unrelenting, the assassin moved.

Kael Asgar inwardly cursed as his knife was blocked, a frail but terribly strong and fast hand blocked his knife millimeters away from the man throat. The second where his main target is in shock is fading and he retreats, abandoning his knife in the bloody hands of a woman who should have been dead.

_BOUM_

* * *

The assassin had left them, no, he was merely preparing his next move.

"Miss Cybele, are you really... fine?"

He saw C.C nod in answer to Sayoko's question but Lelouch focused in observing their surrounding. The grenade threw by the assassin had exploded in midair, hit by one of Sayoko kunai. Even receiving the explosion from less than one meter, their attacker escaped barely harmed by using his cloak as a shield.

"Worry about yourself, that guy got you pretty bad."

Now the group was taking a brief rest around the entrance of an underground parking, C.C was tending to the maid's wounds, Lelouch was patting his sister trying to calm her while Anya glanced around worriedly.

_'Lelouch, I think we've a problem.'_

_'Yeah, our attacker is a Geass user. I can feel his Geass since I saw him face to face, without a doubt he's V.V. man...'_

_'Lelouch!' _It seemed C.C wanted to say something else but she stopped herself. Sayoko and Anya were staring at them silently, the two accomplices realized they had instinctively looked at each others during the exchange even if their heads didn't move. Lelouch inwardly cursed realizing they both were far too used to wear masks.

"It-it's a good thing that miss Kate is fine, isn't it master Lelouch?" Sayoko said trying to lighten the tension. If Lelouch wasn't holding his sister he would have slapped himself, of course to outsider his and C.C communication must have been seen as two people glaring at each others.

"Don't worry Sayoko, we're merely worried about our attacker." Lelouch finally said.

"Do you think he'll come back?" Anya asked.

"He's still around, I'm fairly sure of that. He can't snipe in that place, we're too far in the parking for grenades throw from outside to be effective and he must not be for a rush into a place with limited escapes." Lelouch calmly said giving his reasoning as to why they had come in here in the first place.

"So what do we do?" this time it was C.C who asked the critical question. "We've two people who can't move here."

"I can still fight!" the maid countered sternly.

"Yes you can, but if you do you will at least lose your leg." C.C said, earning a pained cry from Nunnally Lamperouge.

"No, that can't happens!" Her outburst surprised the group, however one glance at the crippled girl was enough to dispel it

"She'll live, but if she exert herself then her right leg will be permanently damaged." C.C said dimly, pinning down the 'she' in question.

Lelouch frowned, one gesture and the whole group went silent.

'Sensing' a contractor was an imprecise thing, there was no real sense of direction and vaguely of direction, mostly it was an indication of when the Geass bearer used its power, however one needed to be conscious of the user for it to even work. The attacker seemed to have a permanent one, that he could sense it meant that V.V was behind it. Lelouch did not know what power it had but if he had to guess, it was a defensive or foresight one seeing how he had acted.

The group took the stairs up, with Anya at the front, C.C at the rear armed with two of Sayoko's blades with the maid was forced to accept the support of Lelouch who also hold his sister.

_BRAOUMMMM_

Multiple sounds of explosion echoed, the double fireproofs door barely holding the blaze. As they passed by a window Lelouch saw smoke rising from one of the parking's entry.

"So he used my plan." He whispered bringing him the attention of the others, encouraging him to continue. "I thought of making some of the cars explode to create a reaction blowing up all the parking. It wasn't too advantageous for us so I didn't go with it but it seems he doesn't hesitate to go at such length."

"But since there are multiple entries, he won't know by which way we're escape assuming he believes we escaped." Anya remarked her tone wholly professional.

Lelouch was wondering if it was that simple. But he also feared the fact that his secret identity had been discovered by V.V, the presence of the assassin said that much. How did they get tracked all the way here was still beyond his knowledge, but Geass always messed up things.

A roof, Lelouch had bet that their opponents would be looking on the streets, there was less chance to be spotted and maybe they would caught him at his own game. C.C mentally called him again, making sure that they wouldn't try to pursue him further if he retreated, but if he did then-

His train of thoughts froze as the sense of the attacker presence suddenly overwhelmed the surrounding. It shadows passed around them, invisible and deadly, cautious yet frightening. Not one second to warn his allies that a spherical object was already flying his way, daringly from the front, parabolic upward throw from the building's wall.

The _Demon King_ acted.

"**_-!_**"

The grenade vanished, his basic existence 'killed' by an alternate form of 'disappear'. _He_ no longer observed the surrounding, _his_ ears heard no sound as all to familiar whispers rejoiced in expectation of renewed destruction.

Only the _Demon King_ and the assassin remained, all others existences erased from the entity's perception.

* * *

She grabbed the wounded Sayoko and Nunnally, the immortal woman not even needing to take a glance at _him_ to sense the red eyes filled with the deepest curse of Geass. She called Anya and told her to run like her, rushing into the stairs without looking back.

C.C wasn't even sure that _He_ had noticed them leaving, this state of near-fusion with the pure power of Geass drowned one's mind toward destruction, pure and absolute. No result of mastery but failure to withstand the pressure of one who united both Code and Geass. The woman bite her lips as she continued to run uncaring of her charges questions, by no mean she could let the three girls around what Lelouch was right now, pure destruction is equal to both friends and foe.

_cracks_

thousands of sudden noises distracted her attention, followed by long rumbling noises.

_BRAAAAOUUMMMM_

The immortal cursed once again, stopping her accomplice and lover again was going to be rougher than ever.

She ignored the screams beginning to rise from the buildings around, focusing on finding a shelter that would escape the destructive Geass.

* * *

_9,5 seconds ago_

The assassin continued to leap over the walls, having cleaned out the area from all visible lights within four hundred meters, if his hypothesis was correct the man with Geass had some power that would kill him in one hit. Thus was the only explanation for how strongly his Geass had reacted, still if he managed to avoid it from such close range mean that its had weakness easy to guess.

A Geass that required voice activation with the power to kill, most likely based on sight or at least needing a way to pinpoint the target, as otherwise the user would have hesitated to use it with other people around. Kael Asgar grabbed a grenade and threw it onto the roof, by staying unseen beating this user shouldn't present any particular difficulty. He leaped downward to avoid being caught in the blast. One second later he heard yet couldn't listen to an unspoken order.

_"**-!**"_

Four seconds later for safety sake he realized that something was wrong, the explosive sphere should have been heard yet silence remained. The assassin retrieved his multiple hooks and fired above, rising once again at high-speed. Unwilling to step into a trap he made a 325° turn around the building in order to avoid his path found out, the union between his body and his suit assuring complete silence.

By the eighth second he leaped above the roof's level, one gun ready for multiple attacks. One sole man appeared before him, his target with eyes blazing red with the power of the curse in both eyes. He fired.

_thump thump thump thump THUMP_

A body fully dressed in black jerked, seizing one seventh of a second to move diagonally downward. The violent spasm surprised the battle-hardened assassin as his own Geass completely overcome all his senses in order to fulfill its task.

_cracks_

At ninth second and two seventh of a second, he heard many, many sounds coming from nearby. Three seventh of a second later he had recovered just in time to see a twelve stories office building break apart in its integrity, there was no denial in the assassin mind already analyzing the event. His bullet had missed, that the building was behind where he stood when he shoot the bullet gave him no hesitation on that regard.

The word 'impossible' drifted by but was rejected, although this was clearly no natural attack all Geass he saw or heard about couldn't directly affect the physical realm.

_thump_

Perplexed the assassin continued to move around the building in order to distract his opponent, his Geass had barely faltered in intensity and was becoming an hindrance. He knew his heart was beating faster, his instincts screaming, desperately encouraging him to run. Kael Asgar ideals were wholly focused around his survival, it was his ultimate priority and preceded everything. One seventh of a second passed, then the building was 'killed'.

"W-?"

For the first time of his live while on mission, the assassin's lips parted in an exclamation of surprise and his Geass flared in yet another warning. The walls and windows started to crumble, refusing the man support. Yet it wasn't the most pressing concern of the asssassin, two pairs of red eyes met each others.

His opponent was falling, his feet on the plate of rubble that hit parts of the dying building, slowing his fall. Kael Asgar felt his Geass explode once again, his body dozen meters away from any support and in plain sight for the entity to unleash his power once again. _He_ was smiling.

A black cloak flew freely between them, able to block bullet the assassin didn't expect it to block the attack and reached for all his spherical weapons. The cloak vanished as another wave of warning passed through the assassin, his eyes widening in surprise for one fifteenth of a second as no death came, the cloak apparently better at taking the attack than a mere bullet. Using this small miracle multiple grenades flew toward the entity, some vanishing and some exploding as the two Geass users fell toward the ground at an increasing speed, what few shrapnel avoided the unseen attacks still vanished before hitting his opponent. As the the distance between the ground and the roof had been only five floors all those events happened in mere four seconds.

Clenching his teeth the assassin threw all two hooks in opposing directions and had to uses all his skills in order to balance both side and avoid crashing on the asphalt, instead he passed an unsafe three centimeters away from the ground and flew upward in the air in a pendulum movement, straight into the entity.

"**-!**"

The assassin heard his opponent released a painful yelp as they collided, his both hands busy maintaining balance Kael Asgar cursed as he was unable to reach his guns. If he did he wouldn't get hurt by the fall, as they were less than one meter high in the air, however there was no guaranty that he would manage to kill his enemy without taking another unseen attack that he had no mean to counter. He followed the pendulum movement as it sent him backward, his Geass seeming relieved as he distanced himself from the other Geass user. In the distance he could discern the form of his opponent getting up among the rubble, leaving was becoming a pressing matter as in addition policemen and even soldiers were coming at the scene.

_PAN_

A bullet hit his bullet-proof suit from the back, he quickly recognized the source as the pink haired girl that was with his target, close from her the assassin could see three other girls. He saw green hair, the one girl that should be death with her upper torso exploded was standing in protection to the other three. The image of an never-death boy with long hairs flashed in his mind, one quick glance told him that the other Geass user wouldn't make it here in time.

Two hooks were abandoned and the master assassin plunged downward, his spirit strengthened by a new personal purpose.

* * *

The charge was overwhelming, C.C barely avoided the man from crashing into her with full force. With a speed the immortal had never witnessed in her existence the man attacked, four hits aimed to kill were barely blocked as the man strength rivaled her own reinforced power. One gun appeared before her chest and another aimed at Anya who had been blow back by the man's arrival, two silent shot were fired.

The man froze a seventh of a second, too brief for it be noticed, as the gun pointed at the pink haired girl misfired, against an opponent such as the assassin such thing was no luck. C.C felt her high strings of pain as she remarked that the bullet was no regular one as it tore through the reinforced flesh, still it meant that Anya wouldn't have survived without the immortal using her recent acquired own Geass.

Four more shots were mercilessly fired into the immortal's body, one in each arm and leg as if the man knew one single bullet wouldn't have stopped her for long. "Tchee!" C.C mumbled painfully as she refused the embrace of death, trying to strengthen her will to live and accelerate the processes of regeneration.

The man didn't let her the few minutes needed, he punched three times into the petite body of Anya and blocked a shinai from Sayoko without slowing down. The pink haired girl's body smashed into a street light and had barely the time to register the impact when a bullet tore its way into the Knight of Round's chest. Anya's scream of pain were drowned in her throat by the shock. The assassin continued in his way, heading toward the wounded Sayoko and the crippled girl after taking down two battle-hardened women in less than five seconds after landing.

Sayoko and Nunnally feel unconscious in less than one, C.C could but observe passively as the man took the petite body of the blind girl.

"You-" The pained voice of the pink haired girl reached her ears, in her right eye C.C could see a bird-like symbol shining. "-Don't touch my daughter!" the Knight of Six raised her gun in a trembling right hand, then the weapon fell on the ground as her right shoulder was pierced by yet another bullet. "Ah-!" her scream was cut midway as a violent tremor hit her body.

C.C slowly got up to her feet, the regeneration wasn't done yet but she couldn't bear laying down at the moment. She glanced at the escape that had been occupied by the assassin, he had disappeared in the second following his last shoot. Nor Nunnally or Sayoko could be seen around.

The immortal gaze turned her gaze toward her contractor approaching on the distance, apparently some policemen had the bad idea to bother him and were getting ripped apart. She glanced at the pink haired girl whose blood was slowly dripping out in the completely dark street. Yet another hint of frustration filled her as the rule of Geass prevented her from saving the girl. Unless, if Lelouch hypothesis on Geass were all correct there might be a way to trick Geass to its benefit.

She glanced one last time toward the place where the maid and Lelouch's sister had been and hoped that the man wouldn't kill them, as knocking them out let her believe. Then she activated her Geass on Anya, then picked her up and started to walk toward the commotion further ahead.

_HOOOWWWWWLLLLL_

_cracks_

Among the falling shards of thousands suddenly broken windows, C.C holding the agonizing girl advanced toward the entity once called _Demon_ and _Demon King_.


	22. 21th : Blackdoor War: Conclusions, Paths

AN : Finally managed to properly do this chapter, might have turned out better than I hoped although shorter since I removed some scenes. _'Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.' _That sentence keeps pointing its nose everywhere, curse you Murphy.

And I'm feeling terribly guilty for the huge mood swing next chapter, damn it...

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter 21th**** : Blackdoor Wa****r - Conclusions, Paths**

_Too late again, will you realize the price you had to pay for power._

_Me, who you believe to be a mere fabrication already long-gone, is here._

_Actions cannot be taken back, and there is no such things as time-travel._

_Enjoy yourself until you realize just where we are, not when._

_Then Despair in your ideals, fall and vanish as you yield._

_Forever hence, I will shed death._

* * *

Anya's world was blurred by black, she felt her body being transported and her head was hold in such a way she could see her wounded chest. The sight of the messy ensemble failed to alert her drowsy mind, no pain cursed through her body either. Her ears could heard no sound, or rather she couldn't pick up the sounds from the silence, even so she wasn't panicked. It wasn't the presence of one of her protector, Anya did recognize the green haired savior yet the fact was left without acknowledgement, in the same bizarre manner the idea of dying was completely wiped away from her mind.

Lelouch and C.C would have said her death was being 'denied'.

Her tranquility was troubled by another entity, one indescribable familiar yet alien presence. The feeling of strangeness didn't last long, the entity seemed to focus within her, a fleeting ghost fluttering onto the border of her semi-consciousness. 'Ah.' A reflexive thought, she felt her body being laid down but her senses all shut off. Left alone in an apparent nothingness, Anya's focus drifted toward the presence. There was no vision nor anything within the nothingness, she could only guess that the presence was the one who had invaded her mind years ago without her knowing, one named Marianne Lamperouge.

Lelouch's mother, it sounded rather foreign, although she should have witnessed Marianne Lamperouge's death she didn't recall anything about it. Anya opened her non-existent mouth to speak, call the woman whose fault it was that her memories were a mess. The girl didn't feel surprised when no 'sound' came out within the nothingness, formulating thoughts didn't seem to work either but the small girl couldn't say whether it was because she was heavily wounded and drowsy, or if it was just technically impossible.

_"Wh...id...So...? That d...witch!"_

Parts of angry words reached Anya, their provenance hardly difficult to find. Anya listened silently as the other woman kept speaking, or rather 'thinking', into the nothingness. Maybe she should call the woman and try to get back her memories, or did she have something more urgent to do? The drowsy mind of Anya's couldn't further either idea, unable to do anything but listen to the other woman's voice, the girl's mind fell into a blank state.

* * *

The world was a blur of mindless chaos, the vision of two worlds overlapping and confusing his senses. The overwhelming stench of hate greedily filling his surroundings as he walked on a ground covered by moving black forms wrongly organic, a endless sea of corrupted entities covering every inch of free surface, screaming in furor as all their curses proved useless in breaking the wall between the material and the intangible worlds. Still their corruption was so great that their vision would drive anyone within the material world to be broken and easy prey for other horrors.

A concert of growl and howl, a cacophony of rage renewed itself endlessly as they turned their impatient fangs toward the only one who could unleash their revenge upon the other world. Countless shrieks echoing together in an impossible combination of adoration and disgust, order and supplication, a twisted mess as an ode to unrestrained destruction. Again and again they addressed their prayers and will to the lone silent entity.

The entity observed the growing gathering without visible emotion, his two eyes blazing red again as the sole light present within both worlds. The purple haze surrounding pratically invisible as the light of the moon was was forbidden to reach the place, blocked by a swarming crowd of vengeful spirits covering the skies. Such an endless stream of horrors should have already preyed upon the no-longer immortal entity, crushing it and absorbing within their terrible cortege.

But the _Demon King_ merely glared, his unwavering gaze settling over the many forms crawling at his feet or flying above him. There was none of the strength of Zero or the violence of Requiem, just a _presence_ with a single minded goal, an endless patience yet merciless each and every second of his existence. Despite the continuous cacophony a single whisper echoed over and over within both worlds.

The unrelenting demonic flood stopped, countless immaterial eyes turning toward the entity in a parody of disbelief, an expression that couldn't exist within those being whose sole wish was destruction. The _Demon King_ spoke again, a single word repetition of the first, nor stronger or fainter than the previous time. "Begone." It was no order, the _Demon King_ wasn't even using the cursed power know as Geass.

The moonlight showered the area suddenly devoid of noise, faint noises of walking reached the entity's ears.

_And at the end of your path of hate,_

_Thy are the God of Madness._

* * *

C.C realized she had to force her breath if she didn't want to suffer an asphyxia that she couldn't afford right now. Even mere fraction of seconds were precious and moving proved to be much more difficult than she had hoped. The sheer pressure of the entity she knew as the _Demon King_ hadn't diminished even after three encounters, rather his might seemed even more intense than before. The immortal woman bit her lips nervously as that realization awakened fears that would never be forgotten, of fights barely won against an entity who defied all rules dictated during ten of thousand years of existence.

And now added to her fears, was the possibility that the 'price' they paid affected the abominable entity who should no longer exist. The _Demon King_ had been shattered during a gigantic battle along with half of the Collective Consciousness's power, now stood before her unchanged yet unmistakably different.

It was impossible, the _Demon King_ had been a creation of madness. An incarnation of destruction brought together in an avatar based off the human named Lelouch vi Britannia devoid of all his selfless belief. Not the raging fury of Requiem who had been slowly built over eight decades in order to release what was only despair_._ No, if Requiem was a an human twisted by Geass, the _Demon King_ was Geass itself personified into a pseudo-human appearance.

A voice echoed, a whisper spoke a word that wasn't present in any human language. Invisible darkness froze, a gigantic mass of horrors her mind instinctively blocked out stopped. Then he spoke again, the meaning of his word failing to register in the immortal ears like she was thousand miles away from the place. The darkness left, gone suddenly without warning. C.C forced herself to ignore the phenomenon despite how it broke all unspoken rules of earlier conflicts with the _Demon King_ still standing before her. A faint moan reached her ears and C.C's words of curse died on her lips as she focused on keeping her Geass active, an attempt already ridiculous by using it for saving someone instead of bringing forth destruction.

"So you're here too, Zero." C.C shoot a cautious glance at the _Demon King_'s face as once again the impossible entity broke his habit. Every time he had called her by that name, on every encounter, the _Demon King_ had attacked afterward. Although C.C couldn't complain since it saved Anya's live, the change of pattern in the _Demon King_'s action wasn't doing much to reassure her. She stood immobile for several moments awaiting the attack that never came, finally she took a faint step back. "You won't leave." the entity said quietly without the faintest trace of doubt, once again speaking facts.

"What are you?" C.C asked the _Demon King_, his attitude completely unlike her previous encounters. The entity existed as an eternal enemy of 'Zero', one fallen ally who lost himself into insanity. 'Zero' as the only immunized to his powers was his greatest threat, one that couldn't be left unchecked. So why was he standing there without any sign of hostility.

"I haven't changed. Since forever, I shed death." The _Demon King_ dismissed her question, truly his posture was the same as ever, devoid of indication. When he puts on a show, it was always when they were spectators, when Lelouch's innate sense of theatrics sneaked in the crack of his personality.

"Then, when aren't you attacking?" It was risky, the _Demon King_'s Geass was powerful enough of be a strategical weapon by itself. Anything could be done as long as two conditions were fulfilled, to destroy and for him to 'perceive' his target, whatever that meant. One mere word and Anya at least would die regardless of C.C's newborn power shielding her.

"You are one of my own." The _Demon King _said and for an instant C.C saw a smirk on his face, yet the entity's lips hadn't raised. More than that his words confused her, unable to understand how she could be akin to the _Demon King_ of all things, worst was how he was saying but the strictest minimum. "You're lovely." He said gently as C.C thoughts froze for a full three seconds before she hurriedly reactivated her Geass, the odd and unexpected words of the entity having completely taken her by surprise. Being left utterly speechless was a rare, but still a far more common occurrence to the immortal than the entity handing out a praise.

Seeing her in no state to answer, the entity gave an impression of chuckling while actually _staying completely __immobile_. Giving the impression of raising an arm _yet with both arms still laying down_, the _Demon King_ called the C. world and overlapped it with reality, without regard for the fact that it was impossible. Even more impossible was C.C seeing herself as if borrowing the _Demon King_'s eyes, her own body a gray form like a steel-colored woman surrounded by green flames. A mere projection of herself she achieved in the third encounter with the _Demon King_ to fight him inside the . But why would the entity give her something that could shatter him by mere touch?

"Anything can be corrupted." Once again he spoke mere few words, he raised a finger _that didn't __move_ and C.C instinctively followed its direction, her stomach where a few black forms lingered uncaring of the green flames. 'Anything.' It was as if he had spoken the word again.

"-!" The immortal's body shook, her eyes unable to look away from the corrupted abominations that should have been extinguished by the holy flames. Then the _Demon King_ was gone. C.C almost failed to maintain her Geass, the C. world gone from sight as suddenly as the entity presence had vanished. She didn't need to look at herself to know that no longer her body blazed aflame, nor that she wouldn't see the black forms anymore.

"C.C" A silence followed as the woman raised her eyes to look up as Lelouch approached. The man, though the word felt inappropriate, didn't have the confused gaze of someone who had been controlled by an unearthly entity and forgotten everything, reality wasn't that convenient. Instead her accomplice had a pained expression while starring intently at her, something glancing briefly at Anya. His next words filled her with dreads. "I won't judge you..." he stopped midway as if the words were too much to say, then finally continued in another fashion.

_'...If you stop your Geass...'_

C.C's amber eyes glanced at the pink haired unconscious girl still laying in her arms, it was impressive how her Geass was really 'denying' her death. So completely denying death that her state wasn't worsening even though she was still losing blood, hopefully she wouldn't end up creating an undead, something Geass might very well be able to create. Then she thought about Lelouch's words, then about the black forms that couldn't been seen anymore but yet _knew_ were still here. She had all the pieces to have a good guess of what it all meant, the scene of herself taking down Cornelia and her knights flashed in her mind like a somber prediction.

The woman could stop her Geass, that was the good choice even if it was wrong. It would be Lelouch's choice too in her situation, Zero's choice as one who lead by example. C.C felt her body stiffen as the body in her arms twitched, its warm mostly gone yet unable to die because of a supernatural force. The girl wouldn't even feel herself leave, the nerves unable to react at this point. Either way she would regret it, there was no choice that was both good and right, that was all.

Lelouch observed solemnly his accomplice as she reached her decision, slowly shaking his head as the immortal woman made her choice. He wouldn't judge her like he said, she did the same things many decades ago when he went to solve his own mess instead of going with her and give happiness...

He slightly waved a hand as if to chase away the unwelcome memories of the consequences of those actions, instead he himself chose to focus onto the swarm of people around him, so many people surrounding the trio warily. One of them was shouting something in a loudspeaker but his voice didn't reach Lelouch's ears. One last time he glanced at the miserable form of Anya, fallen Knight of Six, then he opened his mouth and spoke with his throat feeling dry.

**"Die."**

The man with the loudspeaker suddenly stopped speaking, the area fell into silence.

Exceptionally, Lelouch didn't bother holding a body count.

* * *

The air was cold, fitting his mood like the black phone in his hand. Of the three he had, only this one had survived. There must be some kind of irony that only the one for the masked's man activities had survived the events. Unwilling to comment the coincidence further he dialed a number, taking his time to input every number one per one. As the phone began to ring he glanced around impassively at the commotion around, people hurrying as an artificial light bathed his back under the soft light of the moon. Some looked at him briefly but quickly had their attention taken away from him by the still on-going rush of people.

An uncertain voice finally answered sounding uncertain, an expected side effect of the man hiding his number. Then the man spoke in a slow voice, in a language that was Japanese.

"Suzaku... Yes it's me. No, I'm not. Something happened." He paused as the person on the other end of the line was dripping with panic, he didn't bother keeping up with the endless rush of question and waited a bit before cutting abruptly in. "Nunnally." he answered multiple of his questions in one word. "Once again _they _robbed me of something precious and then took her away, the same one as ten years ago playing mastermind... Why yes, do you think I'd let it go so easily?" The man chuckled as his talker spoke again. "I'm not as reckless as you, I won't do something like rushing into the wolf den barehanded."

_"Lelouch..." _the other said in a voice where a growing sense of panic and worry override the thought of defensing oneself ego.

"I will not forgive. Until then it was cold strategical reasons, remnant of hate that asked for justice. Something that would come one day as an unavoidable clash. But now..." His purple eyes starred into the sky of the night, he found his own voice strangely calm despite the turmoil that brew within himself. "Now it's personal, I can no longer just plan quick execution for those who keep sending those two innocent girls into a bloody worlds of unseen terrors." He didn't pay attention to the other reaction, merely pressing onward as merciless and unrelenting as a tidal wave. "What will you do Suzaku?"

His question took the other by surprise as his exclamation proved, expected again yet unimportant. "I didn't call you to help me, nor to lighten what my responsibilities in what will happens. No, I do it as a tribute to our friendship." He paused, swallowing and continuing just as the other was going to speak. "It's sad, even though we just reunited our paths split again. I pray that you who wish to save everyone by using a giant killing machine will not stand in my path, yet I know better. This is my last, and I realize, my first warning before I abandon this happy yet fragile peaceful part of my life."

The other tried to dissuade him although his stuttering wasn't helping, and then he evoked his sister's name who would undoubtedly wish him to stay away from death. The man refrained from shaking his head, feeling almost dumbfounded at the naivety of the boy. Almost only, as when he continued his voice was as cold as the air. "Suzaku, even now you don't realize that my hands are already stained in blood. From the day I met those britannien people at Shinjuku, there was no going back, no peaceful life to truly go back to." He didn't stop even knowing his next words would be yet another stab at the good-minded Japanese. "Maybe Suzaku, maybe if I didn't need to kill back then, to stain myself in order to survive, maybe, maybe things would have been different."

They wouldn't have of course...

"Don't try to interrupt me, nothing you can say can dissuade me now. Neither your ideas nor your feeble might can save Nunnally." He paused as he briefly considered putting off that plan, yet knowing he wouldn't.

Because Suzaku would bring Zero Japan's absolute fidelity.

"But... maybe you can do something. Euphemia li Britannia" he dropped the name slowly, reluctantly knowing the full weight of his words. "Innocent just like my sister, unlike Nunnally she was lucky enough to avoid being taken in this world of horror even if barely... but it won't last, soon, very soon she will be forced into it. You cannot help or protect Nunnally... but maybe you can protect her..."

It was horrible he knew, just like V.V dragged Nunnally into this, he was now going to drag Euphemia into it.

"Farewell Suzaku." A bip confirmed the end of the call, he didn't wait for his ancient friend answer, whatever Suzaku could say was no longer relevant at this point, only act counted.

Lelouch felt drowning as he slowly lowered the phone away from his mouth. He turned back to face the building's light, proof of the intense activity still ongoing inside the hospital. One form slowly came by a dark door of the building, wordlessly approaching with a painfully slow pace. The man observed in shared pain the regretful golden eyes of the petite woman who had been so long by his side. Silently he closed in and put a hand over her shoulder, taking her into an embrace. They exchanged no words for several words, and then the man spoke.

"And now... the mask will mark the path."

"Whatever path you take, I'll always be with you, no matter what." She said faintly, her voice devoid of her usual strength. The man didn't comment how she purposely didn't use his human name, still embracing the woman he raised lightly his phone and quickly opened the message box.

A message marked as 'already opened' was in the last place, the subject appearing in large letters.

KYOTO


	23. 22th: Leader's Duties :Poor leaders:1

AN : Long, long, long, long, LONG chapter with the huge announced mood swing, and I had to split the chapter into two. A testimony to my attempts to raise the quality of my work as well as having to finish the scenes before the Kyoto meeting.

Some hindsight into the pinkette 'hidden' live, because let's be frank canon was stingy on details about it.

More V.V, Charles and Marianne and two bonus people getting seriously screweed, if THAT scene don't make you O_o then I shall become an astronaut and colonize Mars in shame! (The worse? The scene is **somewhat** believable!)

edit: curse you site of fanfiction ! Stop removing words from my chapters!

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter 22th**** : **** Leader's Duties : Poor leaders(1)**

_More often than not there are bad leaders that screw up everything,_

_In many cases it's possible to justify standing up to defend one own ideal._

_And yet, recently I've come to realize that leaders aren't the only one to mess up._

_My dear witch, gracious source of infinite teasing of frightening punishments, please,_

_Impart thou knowledge upon this unworthy warlock that couldn't see his servant incompetence._

_OR ELSE I'LL SICK RAINBOW COLORED PLUSHIES ON THEM!_

_(Thus I'll indirectly unleash the horror of an immortal possessed with the Demon of collecting sponge-abominations, muhahahaha-)_

* * *

There was something wrongly innocent with Zero standing in the clearing. It wasn't of the area per see, rather it was how he was slightly leaned forward with his two hands hold together in his back, his head raised toward a certain member of the still newborn order the Black Knights. "Sooooo?" The cloaked masked rebel asked sweetly fully covered in his black suit with lines of silver. Despite the rather frightening costume he wore and his tall built there was a strange impression of femininity radiating from the Savior of Shinjuku alongside with a strong impression of unstoppable doom. "Do please tell me how this situation happened, to manage to wreck a precious resource in such an absolute and irreparable way is something that must be written down and passed down. It'll no doubt serve as a terrifying reminder for future recruits."

"Well... I was sort of testing out the controls and..." A very embarrassed voice tried to explain and failing to do so as the frightening form shrunk under Zero towering form.

"And?" The masked man asked again, determined to spend as much time as needed to get it the story out of the fidgeting rebel. He was trying very hard to stay completely calm yet the faint but present purple fog dancing around him proved that he wasn't in the greatest of mood. He blamed V.V for it and swore to get the small petite ridiculous annoyance of pseudo-immortal doubled with putrid pest for the current frustration building up bit by bit inside his mask.

"...I...might have... feeling a bit sleepy?" the other offered, shrinking even further as Zero leaned a little forward.

"Sleepy? Is that so?" Zero commented purposely failing to hide the scattering irony in his modulated voice. Truthfully he wasn't that surprised, he had been shocked yes, but he should have seen it coming. Even Zero himself hadn't realized the full extent of what being the 'Man of Miracles' could mean. The messianic entity so freaking powerful that it had created a miracle before it even was created.

"Yes." the small black knight said weakly. Yes, even Zero himself hadn't realized that how 'well' the rebels at managed to pilots the Knightmares at Shinjuku, in not one but TWO timelines, was like trying to beat a superpower controlling two third of the world and taking over it within less than one year of activity. Impossible without an unimaginable miracle.

"Soooo, THIS is the result of being... 'sleepy'?" The masked man said with a tone of faked disbelief, a finger aimed toward a still hot twisted ensemble of metals with snapped cables sprouting out like some gigantic tentacle-monster freshly escaped from some lecherous corrupted noble's imagination.

"This a talent to cultivate Oh messiah" a certain green-masked woman tried to see things in a positive light. "To destroy three walls, flip a truck, tear down a two-thousand liters water tank, 'timber' two centuries old tree and turning a machine of death into a spinning force of vengeful nature... All this by only TRYING to make an innocent and obedient Sutherland ADVANCE is a feat both Requiem and the _Demon King_ would salute."

"C.C" Zero interjected the woman who was clearly enjoying very much the situation. "We'll not make weapons of otherworldly tentacles breeder that shouldn't exist in the first place in a world which is NOT prepared to face its impending doom AGAIN."

"mouuuuu-" the still shrunk person in front of Zero protested as she heard the masked man and his accomplice consider her as potential world-threatening existence. Zero shook his head as he considered the fools who didn't believe the seriousness he had spoken with, of course they couldn't imagine that monstrous perverted cheese-like substance that brought so much havoc despite Requiem's vengeful wrath.

"Anyway Miss Inoue" He returned his attention toward the young woman still cowering close to him with a pouting face. "How is it that someone charged with logistics ended up in a Sutherland with both keys and codes to activate it?"

"Ah..." all gazes turned toward the redhead who had just spoken. "I might have..."

"Forgotten to shut down the system and remove the keys?" Zero deduced easily. "To think I dared to hope that Tabaki NOT screwing something up would last for more than two days." Zero commented somberly. The redhead didn't seem to take the comment too well but didn't dare to speak as the rest of the gathered group all started to nod their head, Inoue included. Or rather he began to protest but stopped as the man saw the face of Zero's accomplice bearing a predatory expression, waiting for him to react so that she could pounce on him and devour his unfortunate soul. 'Right, the reason Tamaki didn't-hadn't screwed up again was because C.C had been hard on him lately.' Zero closed his eyes briefly, the mere fragment of a second enough for the ageless leader to return sorting the current mess. "Tamaki" he said snapping him to the redhead to attention "Since this is apparently YOUR knightmare, YOU will bring back the whole thing to the warehouse and then you're to salvage whatever part can be used as spares." Zero looked at the other people gathered. "Help allowed to bring back the remnant to the warehouse quickly out of prying eyes, but NONE allowed during salvaging. Is that clear?" Zero finished in a quiet voice that contrasted with the growing purple haze around him. "Is that CLEAR?" he repeated as the twenty-four Japanese was losing his wits before the sheer aura of malignity emitting from the masked man.

"Y-Yeah." He stammered, only for Zero to growl. "Yes sir!" the man saluted in a military fashion, standing straight with a hand on his head. Zero nodded and turned toward the blue haired woman who was-

"Inoue, get back here. Now." Zero ordered, preferring to increase the fog density instead of making hand gestures for enhanced efficiency. The woman who had been tried to sneak away shrieked and started to shrink once again. "Since you seem to have an innate talent for destroying millions credits worth while being under sleep deprivation" Zero began as he closed in, the red headband of the woman starting to slip under the heavy sweat dripping from Inoue's forehead. "Thus I've a perfect way to use this ability in an advantageous way." He continued as the woman tried to use her brother Kento as a shield, said brother seemed very uncomfortable with being placed in his leader's path. The black form of Zero stood before him, the taller masked man looking past his shoulder as so to keep glaring at the blue haired woman. "It seems that the people at Babel tower had a 'special' service for their clients, and made sure to keep their clients in leash by making records of said 'services'." Despite the frightening closeness and angry posture, Zero spoke with a neutral tone as if speaking of weather. "It's actually a good timing, I wasn't sure of who I would put in this task. Inoue, you'll make sure to watch those videos and identifies the nobles in it with the time of appearance, the detail of their...'actions' and which 'tools' they used. This should prove as very very useful blackmail material." He leaned further down toward the blue haired woman, Kento instinctively jerking away as he breathed in the thick purple fog. "Understood?"

"Y-Y-Yes Sirrrrrr!" she uttered quite a bit confused by what was her punishment but unable to properly consider or refuse it under the dominating presence of the 'Royalty killer'.

"You know Zero, she won't be able to look at a man without trembling afterward." C.C surprisingly tried to make the man reconsider his choice of punishment for Inoue, much to the surprise of the other members of the Black Knights present.

"Even with the Knightmare lost shouldered by Tamaki, I remind again you that this expensive machine wasn't the only thing who suffered from this unfortunate event." Zero said, his mask still staring intensely at Inoue who wished very much the man had looked somewhere else after she accepted her orders. Her prayers were heard as Zero stood and turned his mask toward his accomplice and spoke with a warning voice. "And C.C, you will NOT try to woo her in my bed to repay her errors in nature. This is getting really old." if the others people present blushed, it was nothing like the pure crimson expression on Inoue's face although another female redhead was defending the color valiantly.

"Meh..." The immortal woman protested in a moan, which Zero decided to ignore. Earlier in the morning he had already fallen under one of her scheme, from what he gathered afterward C.C had dropped some water on Kallen who then went to change herself. And she had timed it so that he would stumble upon the half-blood girl at the worst possible moment (or best in C.C's words). As Lelouch he didn't doubt that C.C was trying to distract his mind from the events two days ago and from the destructive impulsion that still lingered from overusing his Geass.

"Say madame C.C, what exactly are those videos about?" Kento whispered to the green haired woman, worried about what king of things his sister would watch. C.C meditated a moment, then some feeling of pity seemed to overcome her although Zero could tell she was looking forward at seeing their reactions.

"If I say S&M, is that enough?"

Zero sighed at the reactions, or rather lack of it due to shock, and wondered if he could push the moment he would get Tohdoh in his team. As the masked man started to return to their headquarters he decided he could really use the company of a serious person in the Black Knights really soon.

*break*

Anya woke up in a room that should be familiar yet had notable differences that she found herself to point out right away. For a brief moment of drowsiness she feared that her memories had been changed once again, first off she didn't recall how she ended up here nor why her body refused to move. Her red eyes blinked and her legs moved slightly in order to somewhat sit on her bed, the girl inwardly winced as her chest protested against the movement in a painful manner. Instinctively the girl's gaze descended upon her flat chest which was bound in bandages. it was enough for Anya to work out that she had been wounded, she tried to glance around but found her body unwilling to respond her demands.

"Raah, damn that man." she heard her mouth mutter just as she realized that someone else was controlling her body, a moment of panic overwhelmed the girl for a brief second before her soldier's training helped her to calm down. Thankfully she had begone used to minimize her display of emotions over the years. "I'm so gonna kill V.V this time, slowly and painfully." The other person continued her monologue apparently unaware of Anya eavesdropping on her. Anya felt herself freezing her thoughts and forced herself to relax, surprisingly noting that her body faintly relaxed as she did so. Not in control perhaps, but not completely powerless either, the discovery lifted her spirit. The other woman didn't seem to notice as she tried to get up, only to fall back as the pain originally only emitting from her chest now spread over most of her body.

It actually calmed her, the terrible night in which she ran with Lelouch, Nunnally, Kate and the maid Sayoko resurfaced. She remembered how the assassin her sent her into a street light and fired in her afterward, with enough power that she should have died soon afterward if not instantly. But no she didn't die, the girl vaguely remembered being in Kate's arms while the other woman...Lelouch's mother, was it? Yes it was her, was angrily shouting about something she couldn't quite recall. The reason the discovered of the wounds calmed her was because of the relative freshness of the injuries, it meant that a relatively short time had passed. Still it must have been days since she now recognized the room she was in.

Truthfully she should have recognized instantly, for it was her room in Pendragon. However some of the furniture had been changed, the windows too had been replaced. Still the furniture were rather similar to those she used to own, and Anya saw most of her few personal belongings. The other woman didn't seem to note the changes and was merely waiting for the pain to recess. Anya pondered on the problem before dismissing it as it was clear there was a piece of the puzzle she lacked. There was a more interesting development at the moment, like the fact that Anya was conscious while the other woman was taking over her body. It was a strange feeling of observing an unknown part of her life, if she didn't know what was happening she would have most likely freaked out. Thankfully with Lelouch's explanations the changes were rather welcomed, the pieces of her patch-work life finally coming together.

The woman moved, taking her time as to minimize the pain. Anya noted the practiced ease at how the woman was moving the body she borrowed, yet another proof that the woman had resided within Anya for a long time. Since the woman, Marianne vi Britannia, had been assassinated ten years ago it gave an idea of how long this takeover had lasted. The sheer amount of time made Anya's mind spin, ten years meant that she was five when Marianne used her power on her and that the woman had without a doubt been here when Anya was appointed as a knight of Six mere months ago. Now she had a good idea why she couldn't recall a good portion of the tests that she passed for becoming a Knight of Round, Anya felt a rare instance of pure hate as she moved one of her hand to grab her head. Her body froze and with that Anya too froze as she realized just what she had done.

"Tch, I swear secrecy or not, I am going to beat down V.V until his eyes pop out." The woman muttered as she observed the movement of her body but attributing it to the body's injuries. Anya felt her mind going numb in relief and pushed aside the idea of immediate revenge in favor of carefully observing the situation a little longer. The invader left the room and started to walk slowly in the corridor, two guards quickly found themselves in her way.

"Mistress Alstreim! It's good to see you up and well!" the two snapped to attention as Anya's face remained impassible. Then Marianne nodded faintly and spoke in an uncertain voice, Anya noticed easily how she faked it due to the unnatural way her body loosened before answering.

"Hello... Pendragon?" 'Anya' inquired the two guards looking like she was still pretty much out of it, the guard didn't seem fazed by her question in the least. This wasn't the first time they meet the inexpressive Knight of Six and her injury was understandably clouding her mind.

"Yes, you were brought back in the morning" Seeing a faint question in Anya's eyes the man continued "it's five past eleven. Still please don't strain yourself, it appears you suffered rather heavy wounds despite having miraculously recovered."

"Fine." 'Anya' said delicately, Marianne copying the girl manner of speaking with as few words as possible, it was somewhat unnerving to see her acting so flawlessly to the body's true owner. One of the guard nodded, both had small smiles on their face.

"The weather is good, so if you want to take a nap in the garden, don't hesitate while it last." The casual way the recommendation reminded Anya that indeed, she was know for passing a lot of her free time outdoors when it was sunny, either sleeping or writing entries on her blog.

"Yes." 'Anya' answered the guard with a beautiful smile, with a sweetness and innocence that made both guards smile widely while still standing at attention. She declined the guard proposition to have someone accompany her in case her wounds would act up too much. 'Anya' continued to walk and walked onto the garden, much to Anya's surprise. She didn't quite understood why the woman was going in the gardens, it was unlikely she was going to take a nap like the guard had proposed. 'Anya' glanced around as she entered a dense and luxurious garden, still full of vivid plants in this early autumn. Keeping the girl's face devoid of emotion, Marianne entered in a mix of large plants that shielded her from prying eyes, then the girl knelt on the ground and quickly found a sewer drain. Anya quickly realized that it wasn't a normal drain as the manhole cover rotated on itself after one movement of the woman, instead of having to remove it. With a last glance around to check for people, 'Anya' entered, sliding on the short ladder with casual ease despite the girl's wounds.

It didn't take long for Anya to figure that her surrounding weren't the sewer at all, 'Anya' walked in a tunnel that had had other short tunnels all converging toward the same point. Then the woman entered a place with some small king of vehicles with rail to control its direction. Marianne entered the small compartment that looked like a mini-wagon and shortly after entering the machine raced onward, the speed shaking Anya's body painfully as her wounded body didn't like being put under such a strain. Seconds after the vehicle started to head toward its unknown destination, Marianne ignored the pain and took out the small phone that Anya used for her blog. Marianne activated quickly and added another entry onto the virtual memory.

_[Woke up, don't remember why I got hurt but it's painful. Sunny outside, went to take a nap.]_

And then Marianne pocketed the phone as if nothing had happened. Anya considered what had just witnessed with what she knew. It was something common for her to wake up in the gardens, now that she paid attention to it she almost always checked her phone when she would woke up in some curiously hidden location. it didn't take a genius to figure that Marianne had used Anya's blog against the girl, misleading her into thinking that she had merely_ forgotten_ that she had put an entry just like had been put, and the events leading to said entry. The woman that should be dead had created a loophole to make her disappearances something normal. The many tunnels made sense now, in order to not be discovered coming out of one, she entered and left through different places so that a regular visitor, like Gino, wouldn't know where to look for Anya. The insane cost and preparation that the whole system, this long tunnel with vehicle included, must have taken was downright frightening. it spoke of frequent uses and revealed a pan of her own life that Anya never even supposed existed.

The sort of wagon stopped, Marianne not sparing a second to look around as she passed a door and continued onward without a pause. Inwardly Anya was dumbfounded, yet another rare occurrence but perfectly justified as she recognized the place. the reception room of the emperor! Not the public one that he used for official gathering but the private one where he personally gave orders for the Knights of Rounds, orders that he didn't want public if only to avoid leaks. The girl felt very relieved that apparently the woman couldn't hear her thoughts, the opposite seemed to apply. She didn't know how the rules of hearing thoughts worked, she remembered the voice of Marianne speaking in Anya's semi-coma while in Kate's arms, however right now there was no exchange between them.

And then she saw Charles li Britannia, 99th Emperor of Britannia. The man who was partly at fault for her memories loss and changes, the man whom Lelouch had told her not to meet again. Anya shrieked although it didn't create response from her body. Overwhelmed by the understandable desire to flee as fast and as far possible, Anya missed the increasing tension in her body under Marianne influence.

Then 'Anya' Jumped.

*break*

Charles vi Britannia saw the small pink girl approach without showing surprise, there was a small variation in the light of the ever somber room that prevented whenever 'she' was coming. He had a similar method to be warned of V.V arrivals, though instead of paling blue like for Marianne, the light would slightly go green. When it was someone coming from the 'normal' entry, the light would grow stronger a mere instant. It was those little tricks that allowed him to be warned beforehand of any visit, react and compose accordingly. He had further improved the technique for the two 'non-normal' visitors by observing the time between the signal and the moment they appeared before him, combined with their body language and expressions upon arrival it gave him a false gift of foresight. Thus the 99th Emperor almost always knew what to expect from his visitors. It was a simple yet efficient way to reinforce his position as unbeatable emperor.

Right now he was using it again, the lights had paled with a faint blue and he counter the seconds while considering the thoughts that were most likely in his visitor's mind. This was a bit more difficult than usual, he still didn't know what had his supposedly dead wife been up to lately. The last time he had been strangled almost to dead because an immortal woman and ex-lover wasn't someone Marianne apparently wanted as daughter-in-law. Charles himself didn't mind that his son decided to score a hit with the woman, in fact he had applauded the decisiveness of Lelouch in killing Clovis and then doing the deed without as much as grieving for his executed brother, there was promise in that boy. Now if only Schneizel finally settled on a woman instead of his current inclination... at this rate Ragnarok would come before the second eldest of Britannia flooded a woman...

The 99th Emperor shook slightly his head as he realized he was digressing and focused his attention back on his incoming visitor. The pink girl was so small that it had greatly bothered Marianne in her early years of 'death, the same woman who once used Bismark as a stepladder to scold her husband for his bed manners had taken hard the fact that she had been over twice times smaller than the Emperor. A fact that she had abused whenever Bismark was around, so much that the emperor had finally explained him just who the pink storm was to the Knight of One. Waldstein had never been disrespectful but even he had been giving pondering glances at his lord when a five to ten years old was grabbing him in too intimate ways. And there he was digressing again.

In that time 'Anya' approached at a fast walking pace, her body as stiff a bow ready to snap. It kinda reminded of Marianne when he had once refused to eat her cooking, a juggernaut of doom and devastation laying terror and leaving trails of terrified guards, nobles and servants behind her. This was just how devastating her cooking could be whenever she was mad. Instinctively the seventy-two years old man took a defensive stances, his body still bearing the traces of the most successful attempt at ending his life in the last two decades. He glanced briefly to check that no, V.V wasn't here, and then kept his gaze steadily on the girl.

She saw him and glared without a word, the emperor wincing inwardly as he kept a somewhat welcoming smile. There were signs that clearly indicated Marianne's mood when she came to see him. That she neither looked around for unwanted presence nor spoke his name or some sort of greeting, both signs indicated a very very bad mood. He also noted the clothes, a casual copy of her uniform which showed she didn't change herself before coming. Then a faint smirk broke the face of the girl who was quiet when not possessed, the red lighted up in an ominous manner. Charles zi Britannia was someone brave and courageous, he would have since long been assassinated by someone of his family if that wasn't the case. Yet he found himself slowly reach a transmitter in his pocket in order to call his loyal bodyguard and Knight of One.

"CHARLLLLEEESSS!" The emperor failed to reach the S.O.S. in time, a blurred form destroying several laws of physics as 'IT' leaped the dozen meters of stairs in a single jump. Charles zi Britannia wasn't too sure what he was seeing as he backpedaled in hope of regaining his compromised balance, further threatened by a living whirlwind grabbing onto his shoulders and shaking his upper torso as if he was going to throw up the food called pop-corn by the commoners. All the while the distorted shinigami poured curses and promise of impending death into his ears, the quite worried ruler of Britannia only finding relief as the most dangerous wife of his harem was apparently speaking to someone smart enough to be far, very very far away from the reincarnated ghost.

He never knew his wife knew so many ways of painfully kill someone, almost a decade ago he had stopped counting at five hundred sixty-six. It seemed Marianne had once again increased her broad knowledge on the subject. Especially new was the part where Marianne went on great detail on how to bang an human with a freaking dozen meters high war-machine.

"Soooooo" The emperor began, not knowing how he precisely mirrored one of his son in his approach of delicate subject "I gather you didn't give your blessings to the young couple?" He tried while advancing forward in fear of having his head repeatedly crushed against the wall after too much backpedaling. He felt briefly relieved when the shaking stopped as the woman froze, then his vision disturbed by the shaking saw the face of a small five-teen years old that wouldn't be looking out of place by being surrounded by plushies, he saw that delicate face with beautiful red eyes and lovely pink...

He wondered if Ragnarok would still be completed after his imminent demise in the hands of the avatar of Akasha herself in a manner he could only hope would be brief and somewhat not too painful. Then the lovely angel of destruction clenched her fist so tightly that the bones cracked in protest. "She...A monster... That wrenched whore...traitorous fiend of a witch..." Charles listened silently while observing carefully the clenched fist, sparred for a few moments he still warily watched the potentially lethal small strategical weapon. Listening to the hateful and impressive flow of insults he at least managed to confirm that his guess about the blessing hadn't gone exactly as planned and that a certain immortal woman was to blame for it. "She-she-SHE TURNED OUR SON INTO A MONSTER!"

"Pardon?" Charles couldn't help but ask as the world-crushing shout of furor of his wife made no sense whatsoever to him. Surely there was anything C.C could have to Lelouch that would-... The emperor thoughts stopped as he realized he had forgotten-again- the crucial rule when dealing with a raging Marianne: Never contradict the woman. He could swear he saw a purple fog gather around the petite body like an aura of destruction and prelude to the soon-to-be followed reboot of his dead wife into berserk mode. If Lelouch had been here he would have admired and perhaps explained that Marianne had attained the extremely difficult state of pure destruction achieved only by combining thousand of vengeful spirits with a thirst of destruction strong enough to empty the whole Pacific ocean. Also, and this Charles zi Britannia couldn't know it either, Lelouch would have commented on how impressive the effect of C.C using her Geass to 'save' someone instead of bringing the 'destruction' demanded by the cursed power could strongly affect the aggressive impulse of the 'saved' person.

"YOUR MAJESTY!" A messianic shout echoed in the hall as the Knight of One Bismarck Waldstein rushed in, probably alerted by the shouts of the avatar of Death that Marianne had become.

"MY KNIGHT! SAVE YOUR LORD!" Charles screamed more like as a proclamation of love than as a desperate pleading. It was just how much adoration and gratitude he currently felt for his servant, confident, knight and soon-to-be lover.

"RAAAAHHHHH!" With a powerful war cry the tall and muscled Knight of One charged at full speed, several laws of physics being broken for the second time of the day as the stairs broke in the wake of the giant path. Testimony of his loyalty and courage was the fact that he didn't even slow down upon seeing the terrifying abomination molesting his Emperor. Jumping with a power and speed that would shame even the bullet-dodging inhuman skills of Suzaku Kururugi to the point that the Eleven skill at saving people would be worth the World Record in comparison.

The two entities collided in midair, the terrible entity know as Dark Marianne turned a little too slowly after delivering an outraged punch at her pants-chasing husband and failed to counter properly the veteran soldier. The knight in all his bravery attempted to pin down the struggling girl(?). Alas the uniform onto the abomination got loose and the horror slipped out of both her garment and Bismarck grip. The Knight rolled forward onto the floor, briefly thanking his small luck of having passed the stairs. Without pausing he turned toward the dangerous entity that was no doubt a runaway assassin hybrid monster escaped from whatever laboratory lead by V.V.

His only eye widened as he got a small understanding of WHO was before him although WHAT the monster disguised as a girl and surrounded by a purple growing miasma was beyond him, and truthfully he didn't wish to know. He moved to stand up only to realize that his quarter of a second pause had been a fatal mistake, Dark Marianne already on him in all its bloody furor. The Knight raised his arms to blocks the dual claws that couldn't be called hands, his strong body titling but withstanding nonetheless the fearsome impact of the girl weighting a third his weight. And then someone hit his lower body in a terribly sensible area.

"-!"

"BISMARCK!" The Emperor screamed in horror as his Knight's face contorted itself in pain and looked upward with mouth wide open, an impossible screams momentarily stuck in his throat as an unmatched pain cursed through his body.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" The Knight of One's agony shook the room like an earthquake as Charles noted painfully that Bismarck would be unable to be a proper lover for the rest of his life. He wasn't sure there would be even a 'life' to speak of, since Dark Marianne didn't stay idle and instantly enchained a seven hits combo on various less sensible but still vital spots of the mighty leader of the Rounds. With a morbid fascination Charles Zi Britannia, husband of Marianne Lamperouge, noted that the dark counterpart of his wife had used a variation of a sexual skill she had used on him many years ago and turned it into the most fearsome hand to hand technique ever created.

In a last attempt at shielding his Emperor Bismarck Waldstein heroically tried to fall over the woman in hope his corpse would be sufficient to delay the unstoppable monster long enough for his lord to escape.

"Enough!" A new voice shouted, Charles mechanically turned toward the new voice that he had already recognized. Due to pressing understandable concerns he hadn't noticed the light flash red at some point. He felt a renewed hope as a young boy stood in the room with a handgun in his arm. As immortal being his little brother was the perfect way to let his wife's just(?) wraith be satisfied.

*break*

A certain fifteen years old girl observed with great stupefaction the unknown protagonist who had just entered the room. Since she had entered the room things had turned into a scene akin to an horror movie that made her shiver, if this was what the woman was doing every time she visited the place, the petite girl wasn't sure she wanted to get ALL of her memories back anymore. The thought quickly faded away from her current concerns, for now Anya was more concerned on how recklessly the ghost was using her injured body, it was horribly painful and embarrassing. The later was because after slipping out of her garment to escape the Knight of One's tackle, her top was in naught but bandages. Not that the rest of the room had noticed or cared, if they did they would most likely comment on how it looked like an angry mummy of a mad pharaoh instead of thinking of sex-appeal. Anya's attention was once again distracted from her thought as she noticed her lips rise and her mouth open in what she could only describe as a carnivore smile, she even felt a wave of pleasure as her body literally had an orgasm upon seeing the newcomer.

The last ditch effort of the Knight of One failed to immobilize the corrupted entity, Dark Marianne whole body trembled so much in ecstasy that the giant's body got jerked aside by the tremor and fell lifelessly on the ground. And then the Demon started its chase toward the newcomer, closing with joyous jumps. The possessed girl heard a commanding voice boom "Don't kill her!" to the small boy with very long white hairs. Whatever protests the boy was going to shout was drowned by the incoming swarm of darkness.

Dark Marianne laughed happily as she closed the distance, the boy apparently didn't share her feelings because he wisely choose the run away from the miniature juggernaut of doom hellbent on showing him her 'love' for her killer and brother-in-law. A fierce chase began with the boy noting for the first time just how troublesome it could be to have hairs longer than his own body, especially when his reincarnated sister-in-law kept trying to seize them in order to give the Code bearer some lessons on how to kill someone. He fells a chill run through his body as he heard the girl(?) behind him mutter happily, the boy named V.V receiving an oral lessons on the many manners to kill someone as slowly and painfully as possible. Unfortunately it seemed his instructor was the practical type and was positively LOVING the idea of demonstrating said 'manners' with the cooperation of the purple eyed boy.

The chase continued, both prey and hunter completely disregarding whatever precious objects was in the room in their mad rush. The fact that the chase lasted for so long was a testimony on how the Knight of One had managed to tire out the abomination, for all its power, rage, thirst and will for justice to be carried out, Anya's body was still one of a little fifteen years old with rather severe injuries on top of that.

"CHARLES! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" V.V screamed at his brother who stood carefully as far and as discretely as possible out from the unfolding chaos. The elder man shrugged helplessly.

"It isn't like she can kill you." The Emperor commented dryly with a vague amusement. Believing in V.V's immortality to shield the boy from unwanted consequences, he found rather therapeutic seeing his liar brother run away from the vengeful ghost of Marianne. V.V gulped nervously as he realized that his brothers had indeed a very good reason in not risking his life against the manifestation surrounded by a purple miasma. Unfortunately for the leader of the Geass's order his brother lacked a certain fact, said fact being that the short boy was no longer completely immortal and what remained would undoubtedly be insufficient against what ideas the raging pseudo Knight of Six had in mind. This rather accurate guess in check, V.V decided that he had been extremely wise in bringing a certain assassin to Pendragon to deal with an unwanted noble that showed sign of betrayal.

"ROLO! STOP HER!" The assassin attracted by the sounds of battle had been standing idle for a couple of minutes, believing too in in V.V's immortality and dumbfounded by the bizarre situation, he had been waiting passively for orders. With a small nod the assassin activated his Geass to stop the wrenched abomination perception of time, effectively immobilizing her. In relief V.V felt his legs gave up as Rolo took out a knife to finish the whatever it was that had threatened his master, shame that he hadn't been allowed to bring his gun in the palace. Seeing the assassin's actions Charles ordered him not to kill the girl, an order which immensely puzzled the boy. Still it was the Emperor of Britannia who was speaking, the boy stopped while struggling to maintain his Geass. Thankfully his master had the wise idea to put some distances between him and the corrupted Knight of Six.

Then something totally unexpected happened, the still frozen girl's eyes shone red upon red eyes. The light was left unnoticed by the supposedly immortal boy, however neither Rolo or Charles missed it. The two instinctively shared a confused glance before their surrounding started to darken. There was a low rumbling sound, a cacophony of outraged screams as 'the Soul' was activated once again for active effect. Over ten years Marianne Lamperouge hadn't used much her power as she hadn't needed to swap body. In addition her power had never attained the supreme state that Lelouch called 'broken', thus Marianne did not know or realized that 'the Soul' wasn't limited to possess one body simultaneously.

"Rrrrrraaaa..." Three pairs of eyes instantly looked toward the fallen body of the Knight of One, still laying down after the frighteningly powerful assault of Dark Marianne. The giant continued to mumble incoherently as one of his hand started moving, like a dead rising from his grave. With great difficulties the giant stood up, his sole eye filled with the color of a Geass, and then his other eye opened as his own Geass activated. His red cursed eyes starring upon the assembly while Dark Marianne, finally freed from Rolo's Geass, mumbled happily not far from her brother-in-law. Her two red eyes devoid of the mark of Geass as the power returned to its passive form. The giant no longer fallen took a step toward Rolo, took out an enormous two handed sword from its sheath and broke into a run toward the assassin with a deafening growl. By reflex Rolo used his Geass to stop the giant from moving any further.

Yet again, someone used recklessly his Geass in order to 'save' and not to 'destroy'. Under normal conditions it wouldn't be enough to change anything, however for the giant whose mind was still reeling from man-breaking attacks and under the influence of a corrupted vengeful ghost of a sister-in-law there was an unexpected development. The giant stood frozen a brief moment although he actually continued to advance due to the momentum of his charge, then someone cracked and the giant's eyes shone with an expression rarely seen since the future appearance of _the Demon King_.

Pure and absolute insanity.

"GRRRAAAAAHHHH!" The corrupted leader of the Rounds growled as his thirst of destruction overcome every other feelings, destroying the comprehension of 'time' in his mindless brain. Rolo saw the results first-hand as his Geass failed to stop the 'perception of time' in something which didn't even acknowledge 'time' or had perception of it. "GRAAAAAHHHH!" The giant growled again as he deliver wall-crushing slashes and blows toward the assassin who backed away while trying to survive. A little further V.V observed the scene with a dumbfounded expression until he heard a singing evil laughter by his side, with a slow feeling of dread he turned his vision toward the entity smirking viciously at him. With a sinking feeling of condemnation V.V turned his eyes toward his brother, Charles zi Britannia currently wasn't even looking at his twin brother or his wife. Rather he was trying to understand his feelings at seeing his proud servant being turned into an undead titan of war.

"Slurp." V.V turned his head toward the dark entity as she licked her lips in anticipation, her hands slowly advancing as she kept changing which first torture she would inflict upon her d-e-a-r brother-in-law. Inside Dark Marianne, Anya was seriously considering asking the emperor to wipe the past, present and future events of the day.

V.V gulped, hard.

*to be continued*


	24. 23th : Leader's Duties : Poor leaders:2

AN : Aye, cursed by an illness which sent me to bed for three days and now plagued by exams. I still came back to deliver this chapter. Some interesting reviews too this time. I am not sure which "last part" Sacchin was referring about since the whole 'last part' was tons of fun to write and read. I am indeed French as I already answered IonicAmalgam. Proofreading by other people will currently not happens because... long to explain but let's say there are very long communications delay with my +/- betareader(s).

Bigfan gave an interesting summary too and since he did review I can correct the minor points which the craziness of last scene leaded toward. First Marianne is not a _Demon King_ or whatsoever, the _Demon King_ of Lelouch is a much more complicated existence which I won't explain here as it would take LOT of words. Marianne only 'broke' her Geass partly due to the aftereffects of C.C using her geass to save Anya (how and why was explained last chapter), that and being within a corrupted space filled with abominations ruled by the _Demon King_. She did molest pretty much all the men in Charles's room however she didn't finish off Bismark. Marianne's geass even broken cannot break the 'absolutely impossible' rule that say a dead body can be resurrected.

What her Geass was able to do by being broken was splitting her own consciousness and take over Bismarck WITHOUT eye-contact (since he was unconscious and face down), and yeah... she managed to take over him when he was 'lost to the world' for a lack of a better world-erm...word! Apart the _Demon King_ and Bismarck's status Bigfan made an accurate summary and I thank him for his praise.

Now on with the story, including more in the Kouzuki's side-story! (needed to address it here for plot reasons, sorry for those who don't like the Kouzuki). By the way, I am surprised no-one caught on the 'girl with red eyes' attacking a brother(in-law) with a dark giant, himself using an over-sized sword? Shame on you Fate lovers if you haven't!

There should have been a Bismarck versus Rolo scene in the thought elevator but since it wasn't plot relevant in any way I decided against it. If some readers manifest themselves about it, I can add it as an omake to the chapter. I skipped another scene at the end about Zero and who accompany him to Kyoto meeting, mostly due to factor which made the scene rather pointless. the 'Leader's Duties' arc should be done in two-three chapters and then we're on with Narita which will probably take at least three entire chapters.

After this rather lengthy author note, I bid you a good reading.

* * *

**Code Geass : Back to Zero**

**Chapter 23th**** : **** Leader's Duties : Poor leaders(2)**

* * *

An eleven with dark red hairs was feeling quite distressed by his current situation. A dozen minutes after the unfortunate loss of a Knightmare Zero had returned to his improvised room in the mobile warehouse. Naoto himself hadn't been there, Zero had told him and Minika to stay in base to watch for possible agitations on Britannia side while he was going to see just what had gone awry again. This was not to say that the Black Knights were incompetent or that their leader didn't know how to discipline his men. No, rather it was either because Zero's accomplice was stirring up trouble or, more frequently, because Tamaki did something to make Zero's patience run dry. The twenty-four man was a loyal ally and ready to fight to the end in battle but Naoto had to agree with Zero that sometime it was really hard to bear with Tamaki's blunders.

Anyway, Tamaki was for now a low priority concern in Naoto Kouzuki's mind. There were more pressing issues, including his current presence in Zero's room.

"Then, what did you wish to talk about?" He asked tentatively, just a moment ago he had been trying to calm down a flustered Kallen who herself was trying to stop the poor Inoue from trembling. He didn't heard the whole stories but from what he understood the blue haired woman was going to obtain a vast knowledge on bondage, the worst being that it was apparently for perfectly justified reasons and there was no way she could refuse. Inoue had also cursed 'a scary soldier in black who barged in a closing hour and forced her to pick dozens of outfits for two young girls he had only loose measures on.'. Well, at least it had explained why she had been sleepy, one day Inoue's work at a Britannien clothes shop would get the better of her. 'If it already hadn't.' Naoto added as an afterthought.

Zero straightened himself in his seat, the faceless mask starring silently at the former leader of Shinjuku resistance. Said former leader felt quite uncomfortable with the promiscuity as he sat on the bed of the room. The place was cramped, it was barely larger than the other black Knights's rooms. The sole notable difference was the presence of a large desk extending in an arch with no less than three computers on them, multiple stacks of papers, some tools and also three empties boxes of pizzas. The twenty-one years old Japanese glanced to the side at the also silent and immobile woman called C.C, still with her suit and green-thing lines. He very carefully tried not to think on the fact that the bed was fairly small and that to his knowledge C.C had no other room than Zero's.

"Naoto Kouzuki, what are you?" Zero suddenly asked, startling the Japanese who starred in honest confusion at the masked man. For a second he was left dumbfounded as he racked his brains for just what his and his sister's savior was asking about. Seeing that he wasn't going to answer anytime soon, Zero raised a finger and aimed it at him. This time Naoto noted the tone of the man had gone less than friendly, full business with a hint of warning. "I said, what are you?"

"Hum..." Naoto observed fuzzily the man, knowing he was missing something in the conversation and that it was bad. "A Japanese rebel?" He tried wondering if Zero was referring to his actions as the leader of a cell. Zero starred blankly, although the term seemed rather inappropriate since the man was wholly in black. "A black knight?" He tried again while glancing briefly at his uniform. His engagement in the Black Knights had been pretty much a given with his sister and Oghi strongly pushing their former leader into it. Zero nodded briefly, not quite looking like it was the expected answer but accepting it nonetheless.

"Next question then, why isn't Naoto Kouzuki dead?" The masked man asked in an even voice, leaning back in his chair with his fingers intertwined.

"Excuse me?" Naoto reflexively blurted out, now even more confused as to where Zero was going with this.

"I said," Zero said a forced annoyed sigh "why. are. you. alive?" Naoto began to realize that in this small room, with the woman at his left and Zero before him, both people in full suit and undoubtedly armed the situation was resembling more and more an interrogation. It seemed his nervous glance around the room to confirm that he was in an hostile situation wasn't left unnoticed by the woman as her posture stiffened. The way she was slightly leaned toward him proved that if needed she would pounce on him, badly. There was absolutely nothing tempting in that fact. Naoto forced himself to calm down despite how the situation was sharing similarities with Britannia's 'demand of answers' sessions, although there was still no violence here that could link both event. "Naoto Kouzuki!" Zero growled with an accented tone of annoyance as he made clear he wouldn't repeat himself a third time.

"You're faking that anger." He answered as calm as he could manage despite the sweat he felt beginning to mass in his back. Zero didn't move, still leaning back in his chair. The masked man also didn't move when he growled earlier.

"Do I have to take this as you refusing to answer?" The fake annoyance was gone from the man's voice, however its sharpness didn't escape Naoto.

"No, but I ask that you precise your questions." The Japanese answered politely, straightening his back on the wall and putting his hands on his legs to show he was leaving himself open to both attacks and questions. He still didn't know what Zero was interrogating him about, but from the 'why are you alive?' question, it wasn't very good for him. On his side the woman touched him and quickly passed her hands over multiple parts of his body which made him stiffen, 'checking for weapons' he realized. He forced himself to relaxed as she finished within seconds. Zero had observed his accomplice's actions wordlessly, then he remarked.

"I'm surprised you didn't protest." A slight nod of the mask toward the woman helped Naoto figure what he was speaking about, he carefully kept his defenseless position while keeping his face straight. Still he didn't bother to answer, this was an attempt by Zero to make him speak but that wasn't a question, if his guess was right Zero would continue with- "Why?" and the masked man did ask the expected question.

"There was no reason to, if I am somewhat correct, you're doubting me for some still unclear reason. Currently you're taking measures to ensure security..." He trailed off as he glanced around the room which had soundproofed walls. "and discretion..." Naoto looked at the two people but couldn't read anything from their movement, or rather lack of, nor from C.C's face. He didn't have the experience of Zero in reading the woman's slight changes to see the shadow of a smile on her lips.

"Answer by yes or no first, then correct if needed understood?" Zero said, this time straightening himself in his chair so that he could look at Naoto closely. Naoto nodded then caught himself.

"Yes." The exchange was followed by many questions shot in rapid-fire, the masked man clearly wanting to have Naoto answers before he could properly think the asked questions out. His name, his date of birth, where he lived before the invasion, his preferred food and so on... Zero threw trivial questions among more delicate ones, ranging from when he started his resistance to the name of his first love. Just now Zero gave him Naoto's supposed phone's number, which was wrong, and then Naoto had to give his real one. Everytime he had to answer Yes or no first, then correct if he was given the time too, otherwise they would process with other questions.

"Is Kallen your half-sister?"

"-No." Damn, he almost fell into that one. Zero continued, again in an even voice.

"Were you sane of mind and body when you recruted Shinichiro Tamaki?"

"-Ah..." He paused "No, I can't guarantee I was." C.C snorted. Zero made a disapproving noise as the Japanese answered in more than one word, although it seemed hardly convincing. The questions went on a bit more before finally stopping. Naoto sighed as Zero leaned back in his chair. It seemed to have lasted hours to Naoto and yet he intellectually understood that only two-three minutes had been spent on the quizz of sort. After a brief silence Zero continued.

"Tell me how you were arrested." Naoto shifted, then put back his hands on his lap as he saw C.C stirs. He wasn't surprised by the questions, rather expected it. None of the questions had touched the subject of his arrest or what happened afterward. The list of questions had been used as a mean to stress and tire him out as much as a way to catch him off-guard.

"You think I am an impostor, don't you?" Naoto asked though he didn't expect an answer, it was more of letting know that he knew. Unsurprisingly the masked man didn't answer nor the woman by Naoto's side. Naoto placed himself comfortably on the bed, although he was still siting in a somewhat formal manner and drew his two hands together until the tips touched. "Let's see..." He began trying to find where he should begin. It was somewhat amusing how easily he was complying to Zero's demands who didn't use violence even once in the whole interrogation, while the Britannien who he had been interrogated by were much more prone to physical ways than the masked man.

How he got captured was simple enough, the reason of his capture almost as old as humanity itself. One of their fresh recruit betrayed them to the britannien army, Naoto later learned the traitor had been an honorary britannien under the order of the purist faction. They had charged at the warehouse in the middle of the day with many men and two Knightmares, it had been pretty much a one-sided slaughter. Thankfully there had been unexpected complications to the plan Naoto devised to take the gas capsule from britannien hands, Oghi and the rest who escaped had all been on various duties working on preparations. Still, before the betrayal, their cell had over forty members and that had been reduced to a dozen people. The fact that Oghi and the rest escaped was thank to Naoto being somewhat cautious enough not to give the details of the plan to a newcomer.

Zero nodded absently, inwardly wondering just how the heck the britannien managed to lose the capsule to the terrorist when they were warned of a very possible attack.

During the attack Naoto was cornered along with a few others members, each dying one per one. At some point he was knocked out by falling rubble and the next he received a bucket of water on his head, the water then the bucket itself. Naoto had found himself in a dark cell along with a britannien officer looking at him in an unpleasant manner, the man was named Bretan. The man tried to start an interrogation in the cell but another officer came and disputed his right to interrogate the prisoner. After some arguments Bretan left Naoto in the hand of the other officer with grayish-green hairs, a britannien named Gottwald.

Followed several 'demands of information' with one of the man's subordinate, a man named Kewell who apparently hold a born grudge against all numbers. It had been brutal, yes, the men not caring too much about his safety. They didn't capture him to find the rest of his cell no, they thought they had completely wiped out his group except for the redhead. Once he realized that fact Naoto made sure to comfort them in that idea, that way Oghi, Kallen and the rest would avoid troubles it they laid down for some time. It also appeared they didn't know that the man before them was Naoto Kouzuki, the redhead had used an alias if only to give Kallen more time to be safe. Even now he didn't know why the traitor who sold him didn't reveal his identity, he never met the honnary britannien after the attack. As for what they wanted, Kewell was trying to find how Naoto Kouzuki learned about the prince project. It went in long and painful circle for both sides, Naoto had to admit it was worse for him since he had both the mental and physical abuses on his side, but they didn't learn anything from him in the end. That was because Naoto studied the way to break and question someone, mostly using it to obtain information while passing as a britannien. It had allowed him to know how to answer and what he should expect. Knowing that Oghi wouldn't abandon the plan for the capsule if possible, Naoto feed Kewell fake intel about how 'Naoto Kouzuki' planned to seize it from the prince's hands.

This happened over the course of several days, how many unknown to him as his interrogators did their best to make him lose his perception of time. The most obvious attempt being irregular feeding hours, disturbed sleeping hours and varying number of meal. That is, when he had meals at all. Thus after an undetermined period of time which Naoto estimated to be a week, he was relocated by men who were military yet neither purist nor staff of the prison he was in, blindfolded and then threw into another cell. Bretan came as his new interrogator though he met him only two times, he also saw a couple of men with white blouses observing him once but then they left without a word. For days he had been left alone in a windowless place with no info regarding the events outside. The changes came at some point when the responsible of the prison came with a fat man who wore a suit, there had been exchange of words that he didn't heard from his side of the reinforced glass and then he noted the fat man passing row of bills to the responsible. As some guards took him out and threw him into some car after binding him, Naoto had realized he had just been sold to someone. Despite the look the fat man gave him between his muscled personal guards, the event came as fortunate to the elder of the Kouzuki siblings.

"So no one came to execute you?" Zero spoke for the first time since Naoto had begun his story. Startled the Japanese gave him a surprised look before answering.

"No... I imagined the event a few hundred times but I am fairly sure it didn't happens." It was more than stating the obvious, he also meant that his execution hadn't been announced to him either. Zero nodded thoughtfully and gestured him to go on. "Well... after that it didn't turn out very pretty. Don't tell Kallen if you can, that would make her really really mad." It was easier to tell Zero, a stranger behind a mask, than Oghi or Kallen what happened once he got out of the damned car. It took little for Naoto to realize that the man was a slave trader, who doubled as the patron of the Babel tower. Apparently his half-blood nature had been pierced and his 'twisted' existence (by britannien standards) appealed buyers from the noble circles. The patron clearly intended to make a good profit out of the redhead half-blood.

And so he encouraged his men to 'break' the future slave, to instill obedience in him. There had been humiliating things, he told Zero a few although the full extend was something he didn't wish to share. Thankfully at least there wasn't much violence, he had been still well-built when he arrived and the fat trader bet on that. That and the half-blood rather good looking face. Naoto had been strongly encouraged to keep himself fit and although he got bruised when he refused to whip fellow Japaneses, they were careful in avoiding damaging his face or inflicting permanent wounds. Apart that he hadn't been much hit, Naoto had complied with most of the requests, no matter of sick or wrong they seemed, no matter how sure his hate of Britannia would increase from the experience. His guards hadn't seem to be aware of his past activity as freedom fighter judging that they didn't restrain Naoto much more than the other prisoners. The Japanese's plan had been simple, to wait for the moment he would be bought and then escape from his buyer after a few days. He had considered escaping from the babel tower but the slaves to be sold were very well watched and even if he managed to do it, the other elevens would pay for Naoto's escape even if there was no basis for it.

There had been only two days left before Naoto bid when Zero and the Black Knights raided the corrupted tower. Zero nodded slowly as the masked man finally understood why the man had squeezed his hand so much the first time they met in person. Zero had saved him from a grim present and a possibly bad future, plus Naoto had only learned of Kallen capture and rescue when he had been freed.

"Naoto." The mask spoke.

"Yes?"

"I really pray you aren't an impostor, sincerely." There was multiple meanings in that sentence and Naoto understood them all, cold and warm. Then the man fully dressed in black took a large sheet from his desk and handed it to Naoto. The redhead opened it and was surprised when he recognized a familiar map although devoid of many handwritten notes. He felt no surprise when Zero handed him a pen and put his two hands together while leaning forward. "Now, shall I bring you to Kyoto?" Naoto observed the man for several moments, switching between him and the map from times to times. It was a test, probably the last one.

"No, as long as there is doubt you should not. You will not." The half-blood Japanese answered with determination, then he looked down and started rewriting and explaining the plan he made seemingly years ago. The steps which allowed Oghi and the rest to seize the gas capsule. Zero and C.C observed him in absolute silence, alone with the man who had been a key in the two Code bearers encounter.

*break*

"RAAAAAHHHH!" A ridiculously large sword cut the air of the room as Rolo backpedaled as fast as possible, his gun already empty. He jumped from place to place in hope of surviving the onslaught long enough to find some way to make it out alive. "WOUUARGHHH!" Another threatening growl of -whatever it was- echoed as another slash broke down the floor. It did take roughly a second for the corrupted Knight of One to launch another attack, unfortunately all of the assassin's bullets had be blocked with the flat of the blade and now he had no weapon able to hit from three meters away, the minimum range needed in order to dodge the strokes promising instant death on hit. "RAAAAAHHHH!" Rolo put a hand on his heart as once again his geass proved to be powerless against the mindless entity, barely dodging he continued to retreat. Master V.V would have to deal with the other one himself, it didn't worry too much Rolo overall since after all the immortal leader was just that, immortal.

The emperor of Britannia, Charles zi Britannia saw his servant chases his prey further and further away. He would have to comment on the boy who dodged Bismarck's attacks successfully even if the boy had most likely no chance to win, but still even if the Knight of One was weakened by the terrific earlier combo of Marianne, dodging Excalibur for an extended period of time was no small feat. Charles felt half-worried when he noticed the two were going to enter the thought elevator if they continued but he reasoned that they had no chance of damaging it. Beside if V.V's servant wanted to survive, going inside the elevator was probably the wisest course of action.

"RAAAAAHHHH!" The emperor turned his attention away from the one-sided battle and looked at the other who screamed in a manner unlike the corrupted thing Bismarck currently was. The entity sitting on top of the small boy had finished ripping the skin out of V.V's left arm, with her nails and cellphone no less! Even after witnessing Dark Marianne do it, the emperor still couldn't understand how the delicate fingers of Anya and the small metallic object could accomplish such a feat. Yet, and V.V blood dripping out from his arm even as it regenerated proved it, it was impossible but still reality! Now the ghost of his wife was working on taking out the eyes of the immortal and taking no small amount of pleasure in piercing the worthless defenses of the ageless boy. "STOP THAT YOU DAMN-!" V.V didn't speak much further as one of his eye popped out of its emplacement. "RAAAAAHHH!" Then light shone as V.V used his Code in an attempt to disturb the psyche of whatever the Knight of Six was possessed by. Surprisingly it worked, the entity stopped with one of her hand ready to take out V.V's second eye. As he channeled the power the pseudo immortal allowed a sigh of relief to escape his lips. As long as the girl didn't made an instant kill against him, he could regenerate from anything.

"Grrrrrrrr!" His thoughts froze again as Dark Marianne leaned once again toward him, despite the already insane state of the entity, it seemed that even more of her sanity had been discarded. V.V had no way to know although Charles had a vague idea of what was happening. From what the emperor knew, that psychic attack used past bad and traumatic events to disturb one's mind. Sadly for V.V, Marianne dying killed by the immortal boy counted among those experiences.

"-!"

Charles's eyes literally popped out of their sockets although in a different manner than his brother right eye. Dark Marianne gave no time the immortal boy to scream as she launched her seven-hits combo, sending him in the air with an upward kick that connected their bodies at V.V's crotch in order to launch her deadly techniques. The total eight hits passed in a flash and then Dark Marianne kicked the wreck of a body upward again as she launched AGAIN her seven-hits monstrosity! Not content with just that she continued again with a third, then a fourth execution before ramming the regenerating body on the ground and stumping on it with a skill worth ten thousand years of crushing spiders underfoot. Even after those repeated beatings she continued by mounting once again the trembling mess and went on breaking bones, two or three at a times and continued to do so even as the bones rebuilt themselves.

Forget the screams, V.V was too busy keeping his regeneration top notch and dealing with the pain to use his vocal cords. The almighty emperor of Britannia paled as he watched in disbelief the gruesome hundred hit chain that would make any fighting video game look like friendly yaoi. Charles zi Britannia made a mental note to buy a chastity belt for himself out of survival instinct and finally decided to call his guards. There were just things he didn't wish to his worst enemy, things that overcame the hate he could feel for his brother and it was indisputable V.V's current treatment was among those things. Thus the Emperor did the brave and heroic deed: he called his guards!

There was going to be a very long session of memory rewriting afterward, that was sure. While he was considering those important matters, Anya was trying to shut off the current torture inflicted upon the boy. V.V's attack with the code had an unexpected effect, as an attack which targeted a 'body' and not simply a 'mind' the pink haired girl had been caught by the attack. The most traumatic event that Anya should have remembered was the tons of vengeful spirits, but whether because of Marianne's presence or because C.C and Lelouch coming to save her had greatly diminished the sheer impact of the event, another scene had been replaying in her mind. Lelouch wouldn't have been surprised to see her remember a scene that she was geassed to forget, after all the geass canceler was here to prove that memories weren't fully erased when becoming a victim of the cursed power. Whatever it was, what Anya saw was a decade old event closely linked with Marianne Lamperouge's death. It was V.V gunning down the woman with a machinegun, then ordering his men to attack the house to make it look like a terrorist attack.

The petite girl felt sick, old and current event both tiring her wounded mind and body. For one long moment and without any warning the Knight of Six body froze in its task of breaking the bones of the immortal boy, then turned toward the newly arrived guards who were approaching as a dark aura continued to surround her. And finally it went loose as the fiveteen years old body's couldn't support anymore the vengeful wrath of its impostor user. Like a puppet cut off its strings the girl fell atop the battered mess of Marianne's murderer, who emitted a pained whine under the lifeless weight.

*break*

Guilford kept his face straight as his princess turned to hide (brown version) under her pillows while the door opened under the gentle but determined touch of Euphemia li Britannia. Ever since her older sister had been wounded at Ashford, the girl was truly resembling a dragon every-time Cornelia tried to get out of her bed. The vice-viceroy (as ridiculous as the title sounded) was holding the reins of the country with a gentle but firm hand. Cornelia, who realized large teddies were somewhat difficult to hide properly smiled as her young sister entered. The knight observed with a faint smile the two sisters greeting each others warmly.

"It looks like I won't stay in there much longer." Ever since the critical wound his highness received at Ashford, Euphemia had been merciless with her older sister regarding Cornelia many attempts at ruling the country despite her heavy wounds. True, Euphemia couldn't stop the countless flood of paperwork from flooding the viceroy's office, but she could and did make sure the wounded Cornelia didn't step out of the palace and by extension her room until she was fully healed. For the poor guards and various people in the palace it had been very long days with shared feelings and terrible dilemma each time Cornelia was trying to mount another attack against the various terrorists. Having Cornelia appearing at the television so as to show she was still alive and active had been meet with heated argument.

"Good, I won't have to chastise you any longer and give guards permissions after nervous depression." The sixteen blue eyed younger princess said with a gentle yet bitter smile. Her comment earned her a scoff from the few people present in the room. Even Cornelia loyal men would gladly rush into an enemy stronghold for the princess, however being sandwiched between the opposite will of the strong Cornelia and the stubborn Euphemia li Britannia had proven to be an experience all their training didn't protect them against. Someone coughed by the entry, all stares suddenly darting toward an embarrassed Major Haddock who also seemed quite tired.

The man had been first tasked with looking out of corrupted officers within the police ranks along with Darlton, but then there had been some attack around Ashford and the man had been tasked with the investigation. Normally he shouldn't have but the location near Ashford, the scale of the destruction and most importantly the disarray in which the chain of commands was lately made him the unfortunate bearer of the chaos that ensued two days ago. "Good morning your highnesses, I've come to report as asked." Cornelia nodded attempted to stand up, only for Euphemia to put a hand on her stomach and glaring at her with an ominous expression. After a brief glaring contest the Viceroy woman settled by sitting on the bed, she didn't glance at Guildford for help. The knight had preferred to keep Cornelia's royal guard out of the pseudo-war of resting between the two women, his argument had been that their protection would be even more disliked by the young princess if they tried to interfere. As Euphemia proved twice now that she could indeed escape her watchers's eyes, the purple haired viceroy had been left with no support. Admittedly, Euphemia overusing puppy eyes had been a game-breaker move.

"You look like you could use some sleep." Guildford pointed out the obvious at Haddock, seeing that the man was going to fall down before the princesses were done if he was left alone. Haddock nodded his head absently, completely ignoring the silent antics of the two members of royalty before him, the door was closed again and was soundproofed so that no one could eavesdrop. Including the two members of Cornelia's Knights standing as guards of the room.

"Then give us your report Major, after that I order you to get some hours of rest." It surprisingly was Euphemia who spoke after breaking eye-contact with her sister. The sixteen years old princess was standing straight, sitting in a dignified manner on Euphemia's bed. Haddock nodded tiredly as his brains barely processed the order, however the rest of the room nodded that the sub-viceroy was forcing herself. There was something off in her posture that neither Cornelia nor Guildford failed to notice.

"The results aren't encouraging. There had been no claim from any terrorist group for the attack. One parking was burned down, we found trace of explosive that blew up a car and created a chain reaction. Research proved the explosive to be an hand-grenade. The lights in the street were shoot by a small caliber weapon, the precision of the shoot indicate that all lights were shoot by the same person. The other damaged building was partly removed by some yet undetermined weapon..." He went on sleepily giving out further details.

"What of the people who escaped the barrage?" Guildford asked.

"No traces, the very few descriptions we've are spoke of an inhuman being creating death all around him without visible weapon. However..." Haddock frowned. "There are some bizarre circumstances."

"Meaning?" Cornelia asked for precision. The thirty or so man sighed before continuing.

"From what I gathered, the Knight of Six on the scene, and later she was brought by two people said to belong to the O.S.I. Oddly enough no one had been able to give an accurate description except that it was a man and a woman, rather youngs, the man handsome despite the fact they can't recall any particular feature. A demand from the O.S.I. told me that they've currently no agents in the town and after further research, none that could have come in time to be at the scene." It was a testimony of Haddock talents to have already checked for the reality of secrets agents, the O.S.I. being under direct control of the emperor, it was often very difficult to obtain information from them.

"So, what remain unclear to learn is what is that 'third party'." Cornelia said. It was fairly easy to guess what had happened at the beginning. The Knight of Six was to meet some people discretely and another person didn't wish for the meeting to go well and had sent an assassin, a skilled one who didn't mind using grenades in the middle of a city to accomplish his objectives and that could shoot with perfect precision street lights from dozen of meters away. The people with the Knight of Six had escaped and at some point fought with the pursuing assassin. The usage of Japanese weaponry perplexed them, it was still unclear whether the assassin or the fleeing people had wielded them. Either way it betrayed that elevens were involved in some ways. Still using a... kunai and such things were too much of a signature, there was the possibility that the weapons had been left to confuse them.

Anya Alstreim had been heavily wounded, bloody traces showed that she had been rammed in a blacked out street light. The assassin had obliviously been from another league, even as young as Anya and without Knightmares, the Knight of the Rounds were a rather frightening threat. Unknowingly to Cornelia and the rest of the room, V.V was currently the living confirmation how just how much a Knight of Round can be a threat to one's own safety.

"So the third party appeared and engaged the assassin." Guildford said. It was rather obvious from the mark on the building, some unknown weapon had removed a small part of the building vertically. There had been a battle although how it ended was unclear. "The assassin got overwhelmed and fled." Most likely to be true as the following event proved. "Then the police on the scene meet the third party and got wiped out." Yes, the building had all its windows broken and the rest of it was going to fall soon. Also there had been a howl heard by the nearby residents. Inhuman, high-pitched and extremely loud.

"Some intimidation technique." Cornelia muttered, unwilling as the other to acknowledge the possibility of some beast or monster as responsible for the chaos.

"They didn't need it much judging from our losses." Haddock muttered as he recalled the gruesome death of the policemen. Those had been quick to react and even some soldiers had joined them, they had apparently encircled _something_ and attempted an arrest. All surrounding people had been killed, their hearts exploding from inside without any external wound. There was no records and only the presence of the loudspeaker in the dead office's hand proved that he had been trying to speak to some people, and that it ended badly for them. Twenty-two people had been killed in that single moment, the total casualty being over forty. Within that count, three policemen who were watching the exploded apartment had been killed and the place had been cleaned of anything that could have clued the investigators. "Heart exploded too, we can conclude this 'third party' is responsible." Haddock concluded

"As if we didn't have enough with the terrorist and Zero." Cornelia mumbled in both disgust and frustration. The worst of the whole thing was probably that they had no clue at all on who attacked nor who the third party was. As for the people with the Knight of the Round, unless the emperor was willing to partake his knowledge, they wouldn't heard anything about it anytime soon. Haddock left soon afterward to follow Euphemia's earlier order, the princess thanking him for his hard work to which the man had sleepily bowed.

Guildford exchanged a glance with his princess as Euphemia was mumbling in disgust at the ways the proud britannien had been killed. "So Euphie, did you have anything to tell me?" Cornelia turned her attention back to her sister. The girl blinked then nodded as she took out a piece of paper. Cornelia gasped as she read the content.

_As you wouldn't believe me if I said it myself, I warn you through this mean. Someone who is involved with the incident two days ago in Tokyo warned me that the princess Euphemia li Britannia might be in danger, either of kidnapping or assassination. (the earlier apparently more plausible). For safety reasons, I cannot reveal who is my source however he is no stranger to the princess and undoubtedly doesn't wish to see her fell to the same fate. With all my due respects, I hope you won't discard this as a mere prank._

Away from the palace, a certain eleven teen was praying his anonymous letter wouldn't be dismissed too fast.


End file.
